It’s not been a good start to the year as, unfortunately, our SCC contact JB has been ill and, as a result, we had to cancel February and April work parties. However, in March we managed to install a new kissing gate and a replacement for a sleeper bridge near Duns Farm, Dunsfold.

For May, we agreed to assist the National Trust Wey Navigation team by searching out and removing Himalayan Balsam seedlings from the rough scrub area at the side of the canal near Broadwater Lake. All that practice in identification and removal must surely now place some members of the team in the ‘expert weeder’ skill category. Unfortunately, your chances of subcontracting them for miscellaneous gardening work are still nil.

The good news is that JB is now back at work and we have already identified a good set of jobs for June and July, so look out for our next report.

And so another year has just flown by, only this report is required to formally end last year’s activities and we are off to pastures new; or, more accurately, we are off to the old muddy footpaths, rotten bridges and lots of nettles.

October last year saw us at Ellen’s Green, SE of Cranleigh, ready to install a new bridge and stile, but the landowner was reluctant to cooperate and refused access to deliver the materials, so we cleared a load of vegetation and installed three way-marks. However, to be fair, he had suffered terrible trouble from a nearby travellers’ encampment and didn’t want to make it easier for even more equipment to go missing.

November was Hascombe month and we were back at our famous handrail on the hill opposite the White Lion (first installed in July 2008), which had unfortunately lost most of its supports. We installed new supports and new sections of handrail, whilst our veg volunteers toiled for at least 120 metres up the footpath at the side of the field, cutting a huge swathe through a nest of nettles and brambles, all by hand, SCC having forgotten to bring the strimmers. Well done them.

December we cleared lots of vegetation off the footpath which runs from Borough Road by the River Wey and up onto Peperharow Road in Godalming. The main footpath is asphalted, but an amazing amount of grass and weeds had spread across the surface to reduce the effective width and the section of FP10 which follows the stream directly behind the houses was also severely overgrown. We also cleared some of the boardwalk/sleeper bridges on the path which runs at the bottom of Charterhouse through Milton Wood. After that serious effort we retired for a well-earned Christmas lunch at Wetherspoons in Godalming.

January we had a whole month off. Now, if you want to actually carry out that New Year’s resolution to do more good deeds, why not join the work party? As well as our normal work parties, we are also looking into the prospect of setting up a separate vegetation cutting team, which will carry out clearance activities on an ad hoc basis outside the normal work party dates. If you would be willing to help organise or just be part of such a team, please let me know.