On Friday lunchtime, the Blean volunteers were treated to a Summer Social event by the Warden and Deputy Warden, to thank them for all the work they had done during the summer. As can be seen from the photo below, a barbecue on Whitstable beach was enjoyed by all. Summer work mainly involves path-clearing and this year over 13 miles of paths have been cleared. The volunteers aim to do the work in a sensitive manner and it’s all done by hand with sickles, loppers and saws (the latter two for overhanging branches), which is very labour-intensive. The autumn and winter season, when the coppicing is done, will start on August 31st. This year the regular volunteers will be joined this year by two interns, Rob and Stuart.
Other work in the woods during the summer includes butterfly surveys for the Butterfly Conservation Trust. Their interesting website covers both butterflies and moths and details of their work in Kent can be found at: http://www.kentbutterflies.org/index.php There is also a useful leaflet on Gardening for Butterflies at: http://www.kentbutterflies.org/downloads/pdfs/hq/gardeningforbutterflies.pdf