Well spring is really here at last and the park was full of people enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. A good turn out of volunteers again ensured that lots of tasks were completed. These included planting of young willow trees in the boggy wildlife area near to the cinema, where the old canal arm used to be, edging of the main path through the park and weeding of the ornamental flowerbeds in front of the council offices.

We also set out to scrub the dirt and algae from the tree sculpture before re-oiling it but soon realised that scrubbing brushes alone were not going to be enough. Thankfully one of our regular volunteers, Steve, owns a jet washer and after fetching this the task became a lot easier, albeit much wetter too. The sculpture looked great when we'd finished and will receive several new coats of oil once it dries out.

In addition to all that, we fitted our new BBC Breathing Places plaque to the corner of the library and installed an insect study centre on one of the nature posts in the wildlife area alongside the canal. This is a special box with a solar powered light and lots of holes and compartments favoured by insects and a doorway that can be opened to observe the occupants. We're not sure how this will fare in the park but we can only hope that it will survive intact, in which case we may purchase more.

We were also joined by the Stockport Youth Offending Team, who did a great job of trimming the ivy from around the public toilets near to the library. All in all a very productive day!