by Ian Bushell
As agreed with the Countryside Team, we started coppicing the Hazel in the Arboretum.
Some of the Hazel bushes on the edge would not appear to have been coppiced since they were planted and required the chain saw to reduce them. They were often very close to the Oaks and thus limiting the Oak’s growth. Generally we took out every third Hazel, the bigger outer bushes being taken on by Clive, Phil and myself, and the smaller bushes, further into the Arboretum, being tackled by Pete, Terry and Simon.
Tired but happy we made our way back to the car park, noticing on the way back the striking contrast between the deep green Fir tree, the flowering pink Cherry and new yellow leaves of Sycamore. Very vivid to the eye.
Meanwhile Sarah and Frank took on litter picking duties. Generally the car park and reserve as a whole were delightfully litter free – so they took on the odious and smelly task of emptying the decrepit litter bin at the top of Kestrel field that does not appear to have been emptied by the contractors for some months.
Sarah and Frank made five trips between this bin and the one at the top of Simpsons Field, with sackfuls of dog poop, but the bin in Kestrel Field remains half full. Not a job for the faint hearted – what a pair of heroes!
Beside ordering a new bin, we must make sure the new litter collection driver knows where all the bins are and how to reach them so that this doesn’t happen again.
We meet every Wednesday at 9.30 in the reserve’s main carpark. Anybody who is interested in volunteering is welcome to join us. You will need sturdy footwear and a flask of your preferred mid-morning tipple; we will provide gloves and tools. See you there.
Header picture is of the blackthorn tunnel at the top of the arboretum.
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 
Oh, Sarah and Frank! How brave of you – that must have been a horrible job.
Suzanne x
Thank you for all your hard work
Thank you, Catherine. It’s nice to be appreciated.
Sarah and Frank, you really are heroes. That is an awful job to have to do and one that in my opinion, the friends should not have to get involved with.
This does raise some questions for the Council: Why was the bin left to get so full? The post mentions that the litter collection driver needs to be made aware of where the bins are. Isn’t that his job to know where they are? How often do the bins get emptied?
Why was the bin left to get in that condition? There are other bins in the reserve that are falling apart, and it doesn’t happen overnight.
I think both the bins and the the bin lorry route are on the agenda for the next management meeting – but you are right, it shouldn’t have been necessary. There were a dozen new bins installed in the reserve in 2020 and we can only hope it wasn’t one of those that collapsed so dramatically and horribly at the top of Kestrel Field. Bins are unexpectedly expensive and the county is always reluctant to replace them so a lifespan of only three years would need looking into. https://southwickcountrypark.com/2020/07/26/new-bins/
Now that people do seem to be picking up after their dogs it seems a shame that there aren’t more bins. Its no good telling us off for not looking after the environment if your not going to provide the equipment,
We try not to nag but unfortunately it seems to have been our constant nagging about dog poop that has persuaded people to use the bins that we do have.