Our Christmas presents to Wymondham will be something of a slow burn!

People using the path down from Friarscroft to the Windmill Surgery will have seen the mud jungle after the pond was deepened and widened, and invasive bamboo taken from the wood.

We were here over two years ago, when Greening Wymondham started managing the wood on behalf of South Norfolk District Council and Norfolk Wildlife Trust. For months, it looked bare and uninviting.

Then, as ever, nature filled in the gaps with reeds, hemp-agrimony, dragonflies and frogs. We are very much hoping to put in a secure jetty so people can get closer to the myriad wildlife.

Come the New Year, we’ll be putting up an information board there – so passers-by know what’s going on, and can see some of the fascinating old maps and photographs of the area, and some of its four-footed or bewinged residents.

Browick Road Community Orchard is still looking lovely in winter, and the team are adding a lovely willow arbour over new gabion seating, which will come into its own over the summer.

We’ve had early gifts too: dozens of plants from Waitrose, which gave us some lovely stock ranging from flowers to young shrubs. You’ll be able to spot these at the Orchard – cue the photograph of Paul Lucas and Paul Barrett looking suitably chuffed by a Christmas Rose – and around the Library.

Elsewhere, we have come to a halt, which we Christmas-wish we hadn’t! We had a good day marking out the trees and beds for Rothbury Park as the Community Volunteers dug a bed for a hedge alongside the playground. We are now waiting for the plants which the council are ordering – we can then start work with volunteers from the area, volunteers who have been champing at the bit to get started!

We’re also waiting for a meeting about the Becketswell Park management plan, devised by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. It’s great news that the council have put money towards it, including the reinvigoration of the pond and the invasive Crassula, with a few new trees, more woodland shrubs and flower-rich grass sections.

Greening Wymondham played a part in the creation of this plan, being involved in conversations and site meetings with the late and much-missed Councillor Kevin Hurn, and with the author of the NWT document. You can watch our progress on our Instagram and Facebook.