“Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men, good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.”
*
A lovely poem from America’s Lumberjack Poet – the simple message that humans and trees all improve through experience and weathering adversity.
But Douglas Malloch would have a lot to argue over if – as an early 20C poet – he turned up today and saw Greening Wymondham at work with Norwich Fringe in Ketts Park wood. The Ketts Park teams love a bit of space. “Where thickest lies the forest growth” is not their aim. Throughout the spring, they’ll be continuing to coppice and thin trees to allow more light to the woodland floor. It allows future patriarchs to grow and encourages diversity. We do, however, agree wholeheartedly with Mr Malloch on the wonder of trees. Come along on the 11th of February and see the team in action – and the bulbs they’ve planted, including the ramsons, stirring into life.
Great news, too, this year, with two more volunteers joining Greening Wymondham’s river team. Welcome to Paul Barrett, Green Town councillor for central Wymondham – whom we know well from his volunteer days on other GW projects. And welcome, too, to Vivien Burch, Norfolk bred and Wymondhamite for a decade, mother to William and Stanley. A food microbiologist, she’s currently working for Elsevier food chemistry journals. Her professional knowledge and rigour can only add to the team.
Finally – our thanks to the intrepid litter pickers who joined us last month on the coldest Saturday yet. Twenty large sacks of fag-ends, plastic bottles, food containers, vapes and seasonal gloves, collected from Sycamore Avenue to Becketswell Park and from the Lizard to Cemetery Lane. We’ll be at it again on March 22 – come and join us, if only for the cakes and craic at the end. We leave you with the thoughts of a 4-year-old litter-picker who shall be nameless. Asked for thoughts on people who litter? “Rubbish,” came the reply.
Send us your advice, thoughts and comments by emailing greeningwymondham@gmail.com - or seek us out on Facebook and Instagram and join the fun!
