The summer always see our working parties operate with diminished numbers; holidays, sport, and hot weather have all taken their part this season. Nevertheless, a small band set to work on cherry laurel regrowth that’s been gradually making its way back into the area since 2016; yes, it really has been a decade since we removed the forest of invasive species form the natural woodland.

Surprisingly, ten years’ growth was not as bad as might be imagined. Effective treatment of the laurel stumps by the Council back then appears to have held them back. Despite that, there remained challenges.

The growing cherry laurel had offered the perfect climbing frame for brambles, and pulling these from the bushes was a challenge in its own right. Still in bird nesting season, we didn’t tackle any that were dense enough to support nests.

The final effect was not as transformative as the original felling, but has retarded the cherry laurel again, perhaps for another decade. The area is, again, more open for native species to flourish, a number of specimens of the one-tree-per child planting scheme still growing strong.