THANKS, THANKS, THANKS AND BOO!

Huge thanks to Burton Conservation Volunteers who spent  two days clearing the pond and surrounding undergrowth at the Village Green and replacing the pond liner. It’s not a natural pond, and so only fills from rainwater meaning the water will still evaporate in dry, hot weather but hopefully should still retain some water all year round rather than dry out completely thereby protecting the newts, snails and other amphibeans that love nesting in it. By daming off a section (thank you Tom Salt!) we were able to protect some of the vegetation which will soon grow back to its normal state and the whole area look more natural. Making the main pond a bit smaller and a more typical shape means that future liner replacement projects will be more straight forward and affordable as unfortunately these liners do tend to deteriorate over time.

Thanks as well to Ian Gregson for repairing the bench which sits on the unmetalled part of Martins Lane. It’s had a complete overhaul and is now safe to sit on again and gaze out across what must be one of the most beautiful views in Staffordshire. Take care if you do walk down there -the overhanging growth has been cleared (thank you landowners!) but the fallen leaves and uneven surface do make it very slippy.

So many of us continue to walk round the village on such a frequent basis, it is wonderful to see. Thanks to all of you who keep the village so tidy with trimmed hedges, cleared pavements and footpaths and picking up litter and generally do anything to help look after our fantastic village. Who’d want to live anywhere else?

The last thank you goes to the Townslands Charity for their generous donation of £200 for the upkeep of the defibrillator and £250 towards the pond liner.

However, I do have one BOO and it’s a biggy 😕. BOO to those few dog owners who spoil the village for everyone else by allowing their dogs to foul on the road, pavements and verges and not clear it up. Come on folks, you can do better! There are 3 dog poo bins in the village for you to use – one as each end of Chapel Lane and another by the Cock Inn. Bag it and bin it every time, please ☺.