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On two Saturdays in April members of TMAEG refurbished an existing woodland path in Two Mile Ash.

The work took place on Saturday  April 7^th and 14^th and was undertaken by residents, drawn largely from the houses in Milesmere.

The restored path ran through woodland towards Watling Street and presented a real challenge for the team, as you can see in the picture (left). 

Kevin Reed, one of the hard working team, wrote a poem that says it all!

Ten of us stood round one day, decided what to do

With shovels, Loppers, Secateurs, we made a clearing through

We set the path with logs and stakes, then barrows did their bit

 The chippings down and spread around, then back home with the kit

 Sorted…………………

…and look what they achieved, an excellent effort by residents of Two Mile Ash.

Thanks to everyone involved for their hard work,  and to Milton Keynes Council for supplying the log chippings!

This work has been assisted by funding from the Milton Keynes Community Foundation

Back in November Two Mile Ash Schoolchildren enjoyed a break from the classroom, planting bulbs in the local park.  Now we can see the results of their hard work.  Well done children.

The Two Mile Ash Environmental Group and Ashbrook First School children joined forces with Milton Keynes Council Environmental Department to plant daffodil bulbs in Two Mile Ash Local Park.

We hope the residents of Two Mile Ash enjoy the contribution the children made to our local environment.

On a dry and cold day back in November groups of children from Mrs Healey’s class at Ashbrook School began planting the daffodil bulbs

The children were supplied with gardening gloves and in groups of four took turns to place the bulbs in the newly dug holes.

Over 600 daffodil bulbs were planted in just ninety minutes at the High Street entrance to the local park and further down on the grassy ‘island’ opposite the bridge over the stream.

On seeing the daffodils the children of Ashbrook were moved to comment:

Thank you for buying the bulbs.
Thank you for asking us to plant them.
Thank you for helping us to plant them.
They have all come up so nicely! They are so amazing!
I can’t believe how fast they grew!
It was a good place to plant them because everyone can see them.
They are so lovely! We are all amazed and surprised!
When you see them from Ashbrook they look so nice.
There are so many daffodils, we can’t even count them!
It’s a bit like when a tiny baby grows into an adult. You give it food and drink and somewhere nice to live and then you don’t do anything! It just grows!!
Spring smells so beautiful.

The current landscaping and construction works to our village centre are now almost complete.  From the feedback that we have obtained there is considerable satisfaction locally at what has been achieved, in particular the opening up and tidying up of an area that had become neglected and overgrown.  Reviewing the works, the TMAEG committee recognises that, to a considerable extent, they correspond to the range of ideas that we ourselves had developed.  Beyond that, however, we had a particular worry about the possible effect of the works at the eastern end of the site (at the rear of One Stop) on the root systems of our distinctive double avenue of Silver Maples.  Indeed, TMAEG was formed following an earlier threat to their survival, and out of the campaign that eventually saved them.

In summary, the following works have been carried out to date in the western end of the landscape strip, our ‘central garden’:

Some additional parking spaces have been provided.  They are parallel spaces – three next to the ambulance bay, and four within the island area – and your Committee agreed to them last year on the basis that the former, destructive, echelon proposal would not proceed.  We have also stated that these small extensions to parking should now be the limit for our village centre.

One of the two cherry trees in this western section has been cut down and two new birch trees have been planted nearby.  The Silver Maples have had their crowns reduced and some extraneous growth lower down has been removed.

All of the previous shrubs have been removed and they have been replaced in the western part of the central garden with a mixture of new shrubs, including Fatsia japonica (Castor Oil Plant) and Phormium tenax (New Zealand flax),  and ornamental grasses.

Many of the walls in this section have been reduced in height which has opened up the area considerably, while also providing some informal seating.

A conifer – described by the Parish Council as a ‘christmas tree’ – is to be planted within the grassed area at the western end of the strip.  We have expressed support in principle, subject to the details.

Eastern section – The original drawings for this section showed a couple of rectangular spaces between the two rows of maples, these being surfaced with breedon gravel – like the central reservations between the plane trees in Central Milton Keynes.  Your Committee expressed strong concerns about this particular proposal, in particular about the effect of constructing these surfaces so close to the trees.  We argued that that would pose a particular threat to their highly vulnerable root systems;  while the gravel surfaces would be porous, roots would be likely to be severed, ground compaction can reduce the oxygen flow on which trees depend, and rainfall has been unusually low.  This combination of factors could result in the loss of these trees.

We were delighted to learn that MKC’s tree expert agreed with us and the result has been a redesign of these spaces with significantly smaller areas devoted to gravel treatment.  Also, these will be constructed without the significant excavation needed under the original plans, which would have proven to be so damaging.  Providing that the works are carried out in accordance with the appropriate standards and guidelines, the TMAEG committee decided that it could now support MKC’s revised proposals which should fully safeguard these fine trees for the future.  Indeed, we would like to think that they will still be around at the turn of the next century, giving pleasure to future generations.

Dorothy wrote …  The joke of the week in our family was that I announced that “Pavla & Chris were taking me to the recycling plant next week!”  I am pleased to say that they did bring me back. I thank Pavla and Chris for their splendid travel arrangements and especially to Chris, I am sure his arms are suffering after pushing me in my wheelchair along ramps, which always seemed to be sloping upwards. Before the trip, I had envisaged lines and lines of moving belts with lots of operators clad in protective clothing spaced at intervals sorting out the rubbish as it moved quickly along.  In truth, I only spotted one worker high up looking out of a window onto the scene below. The whole scene looked like spaghetti junction with rubbish instead of cars and lorries.

We had a very interesting talk beforehand given by the “Boss”, I am sorry I have forgotten his correct title, and he was assisted by the hands-on chief of the operation. I apologise for not remembering their correct titles, however the information they imparted was very enlightening. Both had worked at the plant for many year. Lots of information on how the huge operation worked, what to recycle and how and what money could be made and ploughed back into the system by selling on a lot of the reclaimed material.

Future plans were that adjacent land was going to be utilised for the parking up of the vehicles, as they were so expensive to run (ate up fuel) and at present were stored in  Bletchley.

Another interesting point was that Notices were in English and Polish, as all, or most of the workers were Polish. After the short tour we came back to the Education Room to have a closer look at various objects and toys which had all been made from recycled materials.

This is very much a laymen’s (woman’s) account, I am sure a lot more precise information will have been noted by one or more of our Group which numbered about 20.  Many thanks to Pavla and Chris and TMAEG

Pat wrote… As a member of the TMAEG group, I visited the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF), one of the most modern in the country which processes 100,000 tonnes of rubbish annually. 

We were shown a video about the MRF and could ask questions.  We learned, for example, that aerosols (lids removed), textiles, shoes as well as aluminium and steel cans were among the items which could be put in pink sacks.   There are now very few items that cannot be included in the recycling scheme and MK Council benefits from a sizeable income from the MRF, despite the fact that each collection lorry costs £155,000 and uses 1 gallon of diesel for every 2.5 miles!

From the education room, we began a tour of the facility. 

A central computer controls the conveyor belts.  We saw how ballistic separation sorted items according to size and weight, how overhead magnets remove steel and how laser optical sorting machines played their part in sorting plastic.  At some stages the rubbish performed an almost magical dance along the belts as it was sorted. 

The degree of automation is incredible and the noise level much lower than we had experienced on a visit many years ago.

We left with a better knowledge of recycling and ways in which every family can play its part in reducing the amount of rubbish sent to landfill sites.”

Rosina wrote… I and other  TMAEG members attended the MK Recycling Centre in Wolverton on 7th March.   Mr. A. Hudson provided information about the operations at the centre.   Refuse disposal starts with the householders in Milton Keynes who are given red and black sacks.   The red sacks are to contain recyclable items eg plastic bottles, yoghurt pots, paper, etc.   The black sacks should contain non-recyclable items such as used cooking foil.  

All items at the recycling centre are placed onto a moving belt to be transported and sorted further.   One of the moving belts has magnets fitted above  it attracting metal objects.   The metal objects are seperated and collected together for removal.   Paper and cardboard is also recycled, collected together and shredded.   This is then able to be added to soil as compost material. 

I noticed some imaginative use of ring pulls from drinks cans.

Mr Hudson provided detailed and interesting information about the recycling centre and I valued my visit.

Working in partnership with the BTCV’s Green Gym and Milton Keynes Council (MKC), TMAEG has successfully completed two important environmental projects.  They demonstrate our capabilities in the field of practical conservation and there will be many more such projects to follow.

Over two mornings at the end of January, groups of volunteers drawn from Two Mile Ash and from  across Milton Keynes worked on both the restoration of the Stone Hill pond and its environs and a strip of neglected planting alongside Ashbrook School.  The work was led on both days by Monique van Assouw of the Green Gym, assisted by TMAEG committee members, while Phillip Snell of MKC  advised the volunteers on the scope of the work.

Stone Hill pond

The works to the pond and its surroundings sought to restore this area as both a fine landscape feature and as a wildlife resource.

Some of our volunteers removed ash saplings and a mass of very thorny brambles to bring more daylight to an area that had become too shaded,

and others made a great job of clearing the sides of the ditch/stream that runs alongside the footpath.

A third group removed tree branches and the accumulated silt from the pond, thereby tackling the anaerobic conditions and ‘summer smell’ that had become associated with it.  Donning thigh or chest waders and venturing into the middle of the pond to scoop out the silt was quite an experience for this team. but the task was safely achieved.

Through this project, this important Two Mile Ash landmark has been transformed – it now looks much better and it should be far healthier for wildlife.  Indeed, mallards have already been sighted on the pond.

Ashbrook School  land – report by TMAEG member Pat Gray

A sunny January morning and I was fortunate to be one of a team of volunteers from the TMAEG and the BTCV beginning a project in Two Mile Ash to clean out the pond and ditch as well as to restore an area of neglected planting alongside Ashbrook School.  Monique, the project leader from BTCV, began with exercises to warm up our muscles before we started work and Chris, leader from TMAEG, welcomed the group.

As one of four volunteers for the Ashbrook School part of the project, I pruned low-growing cotoneasters, cut down ash trees which were too big to dig out, pulled out some of the weeds and generally cleared the area of unwanted growth.

A number of passers-by expressed their approval of our work and we were particularly delighted to receive the thanks of the Ashbrook teachers and children during playtime when they peered eagerly through and over the fence to see what was happening.  “I hope you’re enjoying it” said one little girl and we replied with genuine enthusiasm that we were!

It was the first day of the project but working as part of a team meant that much was achieved during the morning and the entire area showed improvement.

The Volunteers – in their own words

As someone who is new to the area participating on Saturday enabled me to meet some new people and find out what was being done to enhance our local environment. It was also good to get out in the fresh air, do a bit of physical work, and bring a bit of life back into a rather neglected pond (Sally).

It was a great opportunity to meet others. The warm up exercises were very gentle but extremely beneficial as was the mid morning coffee and biscuits!. We worked hard and felt really good about the results and what we had achieved. I  thoroughly enjoyed the experience and we made a great improvement in our environment in TMA, which everyone can enjoy ! Thanks for organising it!   (Lydia).

Enjoyed two working session, not only for the limited amount of physical work I could do but because of the people I met. New neighbours as well as old ones and people from outside the area. A very worthwhile few hours (Marion).

As you know, I came to the project almost by accident. The two sessions were really well organised. The work done was very worthwhile. The results are impressive and are of benefit to TMA. But best of all it was great fun (Dave).

Rich pickings?   A quiz

See if you can identify the various ‘treasures’ retrieved from the pond and ditch.

 Scroll down to the bottom of the news report for our answers.

Thank You!

TMAEG wishes to thank all those who took part in these two very successful schemes.

On each day we had a ‘full house’ of volunteers and we were delighted to see how much everyone appeared to enjoy the experience.  But to make the schemes happen, we are indebted to BTCV’s Green Gym who provided the initial training and the splendid hand tools, and to the MK Council who resolved the initial drainage issue and gave useful advice throughout.

For more images of our adventure click here.

Answers to the ‘treasures’ quiz