Local Waterway Publications

New editions of local waterways publications have just been published this week.
Grantham Canal Society's 'The Bridge' newsletter can be viewed here.
And the Lincolnshire Waterways Partnership latest newsletter is now available and can be viewed here, I have a few spare paper copies of this, if you would like one then please do get in touch.

April Signing Rides

As you will know the Sustrans Volunteer Programme is marking April as the signing month nationwide, with this in mind we shall give the workdays a rest in April and use the following dates to check the signing along NCN 15 in and around Grantham.
The first date which I had previously announced on the blog will be on Sunday 11 April (09:45- 11:45) to meet at Dirty Duck PH (location map), where we will ride towards Grantham and hopefully end up at Grantham Railway Station if time permits.
The second which I newly announce to you will be Sunday 25 April (09:45- 11:45) to meet on the Riverside Cycle Path on Bridge End Road (location map), where we will ride towards Queen Elizabeth Park. It may also give us time to visit the newly refurbished Tea Rooms in Wyndham Park.
I will have signs with me on both of these rides so you just need to bring yourself along, I hope you can make the rides.

P.S. Hope to see you this Sunday, 09:45 at Stenwith Tunnel (NCN 15 Woolsthorpe- Muston), please bring along path clearance tools such as a spade or shovel.

GCS March Work Parties

British Waterways have marked March as their Towpath Tidy month, the first 2 weeks saw organised BW Towpath Tidy events throughout the UK and now in the latter part of March waterway societies and groups such as the Grantham Canal Society are having their own organised work parties.
The GCS will be having a 2 day work party this week on Thursday 25 and Saturday 28. If you would like to join in and help give the towpath (NCN 15) and canal from Woolsthorpe- Grantham a spring clean then both work parties will be meeting at Woolsthorpe Top Lock (near Dirty Duck PH) starting at 09:30- 10:00 am.
Ian Wakefield (work party leader) can be contacted on ian.wakefield@granthamcanal.com or you can phone him on 0115 989 2128 or 07789 383 266 if you wish to contact him for any further information regarding the work parties.

NCC Rural Rides Programme 2010

Over the border Nottinghamshire County Council has just recently published their Rural Rides Programme for 2010, although the free rides ranging from 15- 35+ miles are based in Nottinghamshire a number of the rides do pop over to neighbouring counties including Lincolnshire.
You can order a free copy here, or download a copy here.

Boxlife/Sustrans Project

Bob and myself have been working over the winter on a small project with Dave Clarke, a friend of ours who runs with a few other volunteers a very small organisation called Boxlife, they produce bird nesting boxes to be located in public and private places like schools, allotments, farms and woods.
A few years ago a project was drafted to put in a linear route from Colsterworth up to Easton using the old railway line, Dave knows this area well as he works at Easton and also volunteers in the nearby area for the “Life on the Verge” project run by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and so approached me in my volunteering role as a Sustrans Ranger about the idea of placing some nest boxes up along the railway line. Some time later an agreement was given for Boxlife to install boxes on the Colsterworth side of the A1 after negotiations with the local Parish Council, now all that was left was an agreement with Railway Paths Ltd via Nicola Jones (Sustrans) to do the Easton side of the railway line.
A survey would first have to be carried out to identify where suitable nest boxes would be located, using GPS we were able to pinpoint the exact location of where we wished to place them. This information was then sent to Railway Paths Ltd and after a few months of negotiations it was agreed that a licence could be granted so the first boxes could be sited this year.
The first 12 boxes off various sizes sited on 4 March, these included 1 Robin box, 1 Tawny Owl box and 10 boxes with either 25 or 35 mm apertures. The second phase of the project from Easton up to the East Coast mainline will be dealt with in the future after the nesting season.

In a way the Easton project has been a beta project and what I would like the group to work with Boxlife again this summer to place some nest boxes up along the railway line from Woolsthorpe Top Lock to Muston. We could have various workdays with such a project like surveying, nest box making and not forgetting installing. Such an idea would need Railway Paths Ltd permission again but they could be approached again in a few months time.

You can find out more about Boxlife at www.myspace.com/box_life

Sunday 7 March Workday

Although winter's nip was still in the air the first of spring's sunshine came out for the day on the first workday of the year on NCR15 between Woolsthorpe Top Lock and Muston.
Just a couple of us got to share this but have started to make headway in scraping of the worst of the winter's mud that had settled, it also allowed us to observe what an excellent job has been done by Colin (Sustrans Maintenance) at the start of the year in opening up the NCR 15 railway line.
After finishing I cycled towards Muston with Mike where we were treated to the sight of the very recent hedge laying that leads into NCR15 from Woolsthorpe Road.

Don't forget the next workday will be on Sunday 28 March, meet at Stenwith Tunnel seat on NCR15 at 09:45, I do hope you can join in and I look forward to seeing you.

New Newsletter Editions

After a few queries to some of you it maybe that you was unaware that you have had an email from Sustrans Volunteers (Bristol) around early February with details of how to download the latest Volunteer Action Newsletter. You can view this online here, note this has full details about Festivol and Training Days plus other business.
For those who don't donate money to Sustrans on a monthly basis you will not receive a copy of the Sustrans Supporters Newsletter, The Hub. However as volunteers we can view this online at www.sustrans.org.uk/supporters/ where you will find the latest edition and back issues.
And finally to keep upto date with Sustrans Connnect2, the latest newsletter can be viewed here.

Proposed Group Meeting Cancelled

Firstly thank you to those of you who have been in contact to let me know if you could or couldn't attend the proposed group meeting on Sunday 14 March at 6.30 pm. Unfortunately due to very low numbers who able to attend I will have to temporary cancel this meeting.
I will be in touch in the near future with 2 or 3 proposed dates for a group meeting.

Sustrans VolunteerNet back online

You maybe aware that during January the Sustrans VolunteerNet website was temporary shut down by Sustrans due to a viral infection of the site. The website is now back online but has unfortunately lost it's most recent data, however Judith Pope is busy working hard to restore what she can. The website can be found at it's usual address at www.sustransrangers.org.uk, and if you have any problems logging into the site then just contact the Sustrans Volunteer Team at volunteers-uk@sustrans.org.uk