Simon and Cathy spent the morning identifying areas of squirrel damage on sapling trees, as the squirrel numbers have increased. (Squirrels can kill the trees by ‘ring-barking’ them, i.e. clearing an area around the circumference of the tree.)

Meanwhile Piers worked on extending the new path (linking the narrow pedestrian entrance to the new boardwalk) by setting edging timber and then filling in with some of the aggregate we’d had delivered. (You can see this on the photo below.)Pete, myself, and John and Pete from Bathpool worked on the bridge – replacing damaged decking planks on the main span, re-tensioning the cables we installed last year and applying grease, and re-tensioning the cables supporting the side ‘netting’. We all agreed that the side netting felt and looked slacker than in the past and were surprised how much fresh tension we were able to put into it by tightening the three cables on each side (upstream and downstream). We also spotted damage to one of the ‘runners’, the timbers beneath the main span, and so are aiming to carry out repairs to that section this coming Saturday (16thAugust). Pete said the footbridge feels much better after maintenance and repairs although there is one more to do. All agreed it was safe to use so it was left open.