The next Friends of Rawcliffe Meadows Work Party is on Sunday 21st September 2014 from 10:30 until 13:00 at the Cornfield (northern end of site, at right end of track through Allotments – any queries of how to get there, let us know).  If the new grassland has been ploughed, harrowed and drilled and the hay bales transferred onto the area, we will be rolling them out  to spread their seed onto the prepared seed bed – think ‘gardening big-style’! Look here for further information on the Cornfield grassland project. If those preparatory tasks haven’t been completed we’ll be doing more preparation on the new tansy areas nearby, ready for the plants to go in at the October 19^th work party

Volunteers welcome for all or part of that period. Please look for the A board. Gloves, given the nettles, are probably a good idea! Possibly wellies too dependent upon the weather!

There were five of us on the 31^st August and whilst we managed to get a lot done, it does make it so much easier if we have a few more. We have a long task list over the next few months as the sewage leak of 2012, MMB’s replacement rising main and EA bank repairs have all added to the Friends’ workload and some things we wanted to do are starting to get missed off because of the extra work being carried out by Judi, Martin and I. If anyone would like to see a copy of the detailed work plan please let me know (4 A4 landscape pages!) We’ve had York Cares and Bootham School helping out with ‘balsam bashing’ this year which got rid of one task from the Friends.

The new interpretation boards, which may bring in a bit more help once installed, are with the designer/manufacturer, so we’ll see what happens once they are in place.

So, if you’d like to help manage one of England’s newest Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) along, please come and do so! No experience needed, just enthusiasm!