For 4 years now, we have held an apple pressing event in the park in early October. This time 85 adults and children came along in the sunshine to produce juice from their apples. Although the dry weather has challenged some of the local fruit trees, there were still some apples to pick from the park orchard.

Autumn and winter can be among the busiest times for supporting nature. Some tasks can only be done once the birds have finished nesting.

We will need to prune the apple trees to keep them healthy and productive. Pruning involves removing any diseased, dead or damaged stems but also those which are overcrowded. Traditionally, successful pruning allows you to throw your hat through the heart of the tree!

We will also continue hedge laying to promote healthy growth and plant young hedge saplings, called whips, to grow in the gaps.

Nesting boxes for birds need to be checked and cleaned. We keep a record of how many have been occupied. Let year 10 out of 17 boxes had nests. Sometimes we see damage by woodpeckers who try to get at the fledglings. Metal protective plates can stop woodpeckers getting in the box!

The lower water level in the pond has allowed us to get in and cut back the bulrushes and grasses which had begun to take over; a muddy but satisfying job.

And we have started to cut back and collect the dead stems from the wildflower patches, giving them a good shake to scatter any remaining seeds for next year. We have already collected, dried and stored seeds ready for sewing towards the end of the year.