Aviva Volunteers spend a profitable day on The Watercress Way
On Wednesday 7 July 2021 we were delighted to host Kevin Murdoch and his team of a dozen volunteers from the Aviva office in Eastleigh. They do a community volunteering day each year and this year chose us.
Despite the inclement forecast we all met at the Tubbs Hall in Kings Worthy and then spent the morning on the Kim Bishop’s Walk. It has become very overgrown and narrow in places but thanks to enthusiastic efforts with secateurs, shear and loppers it is now looking much better.
After a picnic lunch in Eversley Park we moved on to Bridgets Lane in Martyr Worthy where the path from the bridge down onto the old track bed had become very overgrown. Our intrepid volunteers soon made short work of tidying this up. The introduction of a battery powered strimmer proved invaluable.
We were then joined by Jackie Porter, Charman of The Watercress Way, and walked along part of the straight mile to Couch Green. At the information board and bench Jackie and Mike explained some of the history of the path and our aims in improving the ecology of the route.
The weather stayed fine. Kevin and his team had a really enjoyable day and they even promised to come back next year. Many of the participants were keen to make use of the trail for walking and cycling and intend to download maps from our website. The 8 Walk Challenge enables you to cover the full 27 miles in manageable chunks of 4 – 6 miles.
A big thank you to Kevin, Jon, Nina, Sue, Sue, Claire, Roxanne, Allan, Helen, Colette, Emma-Nicole and Jenn for all their hard work. The photographs show what they achieved.
If you are interested in volunteering then please sign up as a Friend of the Way to receive our newsletters and email us at info@thewatercressway.org.uk to go on our mailing list for volunteer events.
Mike Collis,
Secretary
