Spring has sprung for the Coast & Countryside team along the South Devon Coast

Blog from Richard Moore, National Trust Warden for South Devon Coast & Countryside

With what appears to be the worst of the frosty mornings over and colour creeping back into our hedgerows, I think it’s fairly safe to say spring has well and truly sprung. Along with this change in seasons, so too comes a change in our workload. Practical winter jobs such as tree felling and fencing have given way to others, most commonly the mammoth task of keeping grassy areas short and pleasant to visit, along our extensive lengths of public footpaths, bridal ways and the coast path.

Longer, warmer days also bring a change in our upcoming events. Those of you that made it to the Explore the Outdoors exhibition at Plymouth Pavilions on the 13th and 14th of March may well have paid our stand amongst others a visit. For the benefit of those unaware of the shows ambition, in brief, it is a collective group of bodies with similar interests, ideas and backgrounds who gather and unite to deliver the same message; enjoy our countryside. With the National Trusts own Unlocked event just around the corner on the 1st and 2nd of May we found the experience incredibly useful, not only in seeing the drive and passion people still have for the outdoors but also in inspiring us with creative ideas that should result in Unlocked being a lot of fun. Find us at the Piazza on Armada Way and discover more about cycling, surfing, rock pooling and how to build giant sand sculptures. There is plenty for the kids to do including making a seaweed press or a beautiful bug out of willow, building a woodland den or getting their face painted. Its all free too.

Although not relevant until later in the year the final point I would like to mention would be the new additions delivered to our workshop earlier in the month. After months of planning, speculating and welding we are now the proud owners of two rather large charcoal kilns. These have been sited and we will be doing some practice runs before our charcoal burning event in October. Having the kilns on site brings the reality of it one step closer. I’d urge those interested to check out the blog closer to the time as places will book up fast, apparently burgers taste better when cooked over your own coals.