Another bitterly cold but mercifully dry day saw a very good turnout of volunteers assemble in Coed Gwilym Park. Andy and John G set off to pull weed from the cut upstream of the Buried Lock site.

Using some lovely top soil from a nearby farm, a small area of grass and ivy between the canoe store and the new slipway route and a strip alongside another of the new paths were transformed into garden beds by some of our eager volunteers. Shrubs from the Buried Loch site garden which are in danger of being damaged in the restoration there were dug up by Martin and Gordon and brought to the larger of the new beds. Most were evergreen like skimmia and osmanthus so made an instant impact. We hope they will all survive the shock.

Time for tea and a chat. Wonderful cakes – including a coffee and walnut confection of imperial quality – were provided by Chris, who apparently had been dissatisfied with one of her bakes so set to at 9pm yesterday evening to make another batch! We were particularly pleased to welcome Gareth and Kath who have both been poorly of late.

And finally, Merched Y Wawr walking group meet every Tuesday. Today they had a lovely walk along our beautiful canal.

We all survived the icy blast and had great fun, in no small measure due to Chris’s cakes! It was particularly encouraging to see the new flower bed. A job with a beginning, middle and end, all done in a few hours, is always nice to accomplish, particularly when the outcome is so good.