November 2020
Back in action – and then back into lockdown!
After a six-month break, due to coronavirus, members of Friends of the Towans were delighted to be able to meet again on 10th September.
Ranger Martin Rule had carried out a Covid-19 risk assessment to ensure the Friends could safely resume their vital work protecting the Towans, and produced a programme of weekly work parties covering the last four months of 2020. Advance booking was essential, but to accommodate as many people as possible, members were able to meet in two socially-distanced ‘bubbles’, to fit in with the government’s Rule of Six restrictions.
September saw the Friends returning to the spectacular setting of Godrevy Warren, to continue the gorse-thinning work begun before lockdown in March – and enjoy spectacular views over St Ives Bay – and in October, the group was at Gwithian Green coppicing willow and elm.
The plan for November was to clear and burn scrub and weeds at Mexico Towans – but then came the government’s announcement of a second national lockdown. So the Friends’ autumn and winter programme has been put on hold for now, but members are keeping their fingers crossed that they will be back in action in December.
In the meantime, work won’t be stopping entirely – thanks to the presence of several Shetland ponies, who have just returned for Lethlean Towans for the winter to help keep the encroaching scrub at bay. Ponies are also due to return to Mexico and Upton Towans very soon.
