Update – April 2006

With Spring being very late this year, April has been a quiet month for both activities and from a weather point of view.

The late Easter and associated school holiday has produced a surge in the amount of litter in the Dene but it is pleasing to note the increasing number of people who are prepared to pick up the beer cans, plastic drink bottles and other rubbish and hence keep the Dene tidy.

The picking of wild flowers continues to be a disappointment especially as very often the bunch is discarded a short distance away.

Young persons have twice set fire to gorse bushes to which the fire brigade has been called. Luckily in both cases the damage was minimal.

A survey of work needed to be carried out in the Dene has been completed and hopefully a start will be made in May although it will soon be the path clearance season which means hours of strimming in June. Both Northumberland and Blyth Valley Councils continue to be reminded of the tasks which are beyond the resources of the volunteer team but with the financial restraints in local Government this year little progress is expected. The environment is certainly not their flavour of 2006

The annual Wildflower Walk through the Dene took place on Sunday 30 th April and was enjoyed by the sixteen people who attended. Led by Judith Summerson, the walk confirmed how late Spring is compared with previous years because some of the flowers, which are normally fully out at this stage, were still in the bud stage. The overall impression was of how quickly the wild flowers are colonising large areas of the Dene when compared with just five years ago