Sunday 9th August

Lots of litter in NML, which I cleared up and hung on the fence to pick up later and...forgot.  Andy is right, NML is becoming impassable, particularly in the middle and some nasty nettles up by Fisherman's Gate.

Lots of walkers

Saturday 8th August

​pretty quiet today, mega warm yet again but no issues. The grazing animal signs have been taken so I will make sure new ones go up. We are still waiting on some no entry signs for the top of the loop but they will go up soon too. 

Saturday 8th August

A tsunami of litter at the Durngate bench, and plenty at the mosaic near the veteran willow, where the swimmers had discarded their wet clothes. Two of them had toileted under the trees. Drug paraphernalia, including spoon, at the mushroom.

Apart from this, a lovely morning!

This lovely young stoat crossed my path in SPM yesterday, when I was doing FPP. 

Friday 7th August

​Pretty quiet , minimal litter and no issues. A few smoking in the glade but left after I arrived.  No issues which was nice. Quiet afternoon, despite the warm sunny weather. 

Thursday 6th All Good

Early start, lots of runners today and one prayer lady. A little bit of litter otherwise all good. Swans and cygnets by the path but not fussed today. 

The path across NML to the fisherman's is getting very difficult to navigate. I got lost a couple of times. 

Wednesday 5th August

 Very quiet this morning. The reeds get taller while the pond gets smaller!  Chatted to a young family having a picnic and a German lady who had just arrived in the UK and was realising it was just as dry here as back home in Germany.

Picked up a small amount of litter at the usual places. Had a good look round for the missing signs by entrance to NML but no luck.

I presume the broken latch on the rugby field bridge is on your never ending list of jobs Sam!

 Quiet. 2 regular runners & some walkers. A lady saying morning prayer by the pond. A bit of litter. Floral tribute on Colebrand's bench

Sunday 2 August

 Quite a few walkers, no runners.  No litter!

Saturday 1st August

Lovely to be back after my Scotland trip, where I found incredible flowers on the west coast headlands. A full bag of litter from all the usual spots, and two dogs to clear up after. Otherwise a lovely morning, and I admired the strimming. Lovely to see the hemp agrimony, purple loosestrife and fleabane out. 

Thursday 30 July - OK

Quiet, just a few visitors including three jolly ladies from the Netherlands. More litter than usual for a Thursday, but nothing nasty. Main issue is the split gate post on the Rugby Club entrance bridge. Reporting to Sam directly.

July 29th

All peaceful. A party of walkers enjoying a tour and one or two Grannies out with small people  setting out on adventures. Fished a plastic bottle out of the pond- couldn't reach the can! Quite a number of dragonflies.

Plenty of butterflies and a family of Reed Warblers busy at work.

monday 27th July staff check

Paths getting a little tight overhead. Will get those cleared soon.

Sluice which feeds pond has been altered with less water feeding the system. Back up boards hidden and in place. 

Very quiet on site really.

Thanks all for your reports 🙏 

Sam

Quiet

 Very little bird song. No swans but could see where they had been. Did a little bramble  snipping en route. Its growing like crazy. A few runners and walkers with a couple of "thank yous" for the litter picking. Some one has artistically chalken Fenella's bench.

Sunday 26th July

Busy today with lots of walkers, one runner.

Someone has emptied an entire box of tissues across the reserve and Charlotte and I cleared them up.

The fence to NML is still up but not the sign.  

Lots of berries, which I think are early but looking back at past blogs, not really.

Saturday 25th July

​checked on the swans and cygnets . They are still taking up the entire path near the rec bridge aha but all seem to be ok, I temporarily blocked off the path and asked people to go the long way round because too many people were barging past and interfering with the swans, a child on a bike almost ran one over. No issues other than swan related shenanigans.

The no swimming sign at the top of the loop however ,has gone as was reported the other day. Quite busy but no swimming issues or groups being a pain. 

Thursday 23rd - Injured Cygnet? and other issues.

There seems to be an injured Cygnet on the path up to the bridge into the recreation ground, the mother is guarding and not letting people pass by. The male and other cygnets are up by the bridge on the reserve side. 

The no swimming, no entry sign has gone missing at the top of the reserve. 

Someone has thrown the piece of wood that was on the broken bench into the pond.

One young lad fishing, moved him on.

A little litter, cleared up. 

Other all good! 

Sunday 19th July

​Pretty busy day, but all ok. No issues to report. I have done some strimming near the boardwalk to try and get rid of some of the thistle, luckily no complaints about the noise. Signs still up which is a bonus ! 

Cooler

 Nice to see the mower's been round. All clean and quiet apart from sounds of tidying up from Foodies. Fewer regulars

I sometimes wonder if we could open the sluice by the dipping stream. Durngate water levels are still steady so may be enough to wet the reed bed

Sunday 19th July

Fairly quiet but then access from North Walls is limited.  I can hear the food festival a mile away in my back garden.  A few cigarette butts by the bridge so I assume the reserve is being used as the smoking room.  Spoke to a couple of swimmers

Guelder Rose berries ripening

Saturday 18th July

​Very quiet today, swans and cygnets causing a bit of people traffic by laying out on the path and hissing at people walking past. Very warm day but no swimmers in the wrong place . The sign and fence at the top of the loop are both still up and the brash pile is too ! No new rope swings either. Food festival music quite loud . Some litter in the glade, mainly alcohol cans, has now been cleaned up. 

Friday 17th July

​Paths have now been cut, along with the glade. Hopefully this makes it easier for people to walk round. Food festival this weekend, hopefully making it not as busy. 

Thursday 16th - Broken gate latch

The gate latch on the gate into the reserve from the recreation ground is missing. 

Otherwise all good, no litter, two polite runners and a handful of other visitors. 

The recreation ground is mainly fenced off for the foodie festival, you have to a big detour to get to and from the car park if you go that way. 

Wednesday 15th July Busy in rugby fields

 A busy few days coming up - the circus is in town at the rugby club and a food festival on the rugby ground at the reserve bridge entrance. Usual heras railings all round at the latter.

The back of the interpretation boards could do with some chalk for recording sightings rather than scratching.

Good work improving access - hope the elderly couple with a gentleman in a wheelchair come back for a second visit.

Very quiet on the reserve - just met one man at the pond who had walked up from Shawford and like me was glad of the breeze!  We agreed the pond is in need of water! Retrieved a deflated balloon from the centre of a bed of nettles - luckily had my hiking pole!!

work party 14th July

Hi all,

Some litter cleared from site.

Most paths cut.

Corner support in place for ministream but see the other corner needs a repair too.

Cleared around mini stream for better visitor access.

Pond reed encroachment cleared. Drying up, will see if we can get wetter.

Lots of happy people on site.

Good day :)

Sam

Earlier start

 Nice and cool. Met and chatted with some regulars. Snipped some overgrowing brambles and roses. Dealt with this before the boardwalk. The tree by Swift's has a neighbouring willow that was dropping branches as I passed. Maybe a quick survey would be apt. This one on the boardwalk is getting lower.  Next to no litter. 

Sunday 12th July

​Glad to report a fairly quiet day. No swimmers in the wrong place when I was there ! Not really any litter and everyone being respectful. Not many visitors today though . I have put up new signs around the place so fingers crossed they stay up. 

Sunday 12th July

A few walkers.

Fence still up.  Charlotte putting up new signs.

Ripening blackberries and Rowan tree in full fruit.  Mad!

Saturday 11th July

 Winnall south surprisingly quiet today, no new rope swing and the repaired fence is still standing! New signs going up tomorrow and hopefully the swimming group of teenagers stay away. No new damage and no issues today so all in all pretty good. 

Saturday 11th July

This box of syringes found empty behind the Durngate boards. Lots of packets of wipes etc, no needles found. Most litter under the spreading willow at the top curve. Attempts at firelighting- lots of pieces of burnt newspaper mostly - near the mosaic by the veteran willow. I'm a

way for the next two Saturdays. . 

Thursday 9th - Swimmer

Super hot, a number of visitors. 

One adult male swimmer at the northern end by the entrance to no man's land on the public side. Said he didn't realise. Maybe put a 'No Swimming'  sign on the fence there. 

No litter which was nice.

Otherwise all good. 

Wednesday 8th July - A bit of strimming needed

 Met an elderly couple - the lady pushing a gentleman in a wheelchair. It was their first visit and were finding the path a bit narrow in places. Needs cutting back in places. They just about managed to overcome the fallen tree obstacle over the path by Park Avenue - hopefully it will be dealt with soon.

Very quiet otherwise - too early for swimmers perhaps!?

 7 July 2026 

Large group of teenagers swimming by the entrance to the restricted area of the Moor at around 1330 hours. 

abnormally late (7pm)

 quiet round but more socialising than I normally see, no surprise. 2 lads on bikes, as I was alone I didn't challenge. Met a nice couple with a dog. They politely departed but claimed thy hadn't seen a sign -really??? Given there are 2 at Durngate and one is large.
A little girl with her dad spotted a toad, which was too fast for my phone camera.

Met a nice lady who was very knowledgeable about water things. (It was once her business). Fascinated by our recent history.

Sadly this broken tree at Swift's Lake bridge. It seems stable but will need to go. I managed to walk under it.

Sunday 5th July

​​Another warm day but no issues with swimmers today luckily. The rope swing that was at the top of the loop has now been taken down but there is some rope left behind because I couldn’t get it all. I have repaired the top part of the fence, the no swimming sign has vanished so will need a new one for that fence. 

Lots of visitors today but all being respectful, that I saw. Thank you Lynne for making sure I didn’t fall in the river when getting the rope swing down aha ! 

Sunday 5th July

Several walkers and a couple of runners, one polite.

Charlotte carrying out the Sisyphean task of repairing the NML fence.  Helped her cut the rope swing down.    The no entry/no swimming sign has been taken down again.  May need one of Adrian's robust frames.  I think a pile of manure may be a deterrent.

Ref signs: I noted the order on signs at the entrances.  Perhaps "no swimming" and "no dogs" should be nearer the top?

Friday 3rd of July

​Appologies for the odd order of these last two posts . Had a group come and sit in the glade, definitely doing drugs but after I made my presence known they moved to durngate bench. Very busy day, lots of people wanting to chat about the damselflies which was lovely. Getting round to fixing the broken fence this weekend too ! 

Saturday 4th July

​Very busy today, also very warm. Swimmers in the wrong place responded politely and moved which was a nice surprise. I spoke to the homeless man, not causing any issues, no drugs or alcohol, just decided Winnall was a good place for a sleep. No major issues today, some litter in places that were cleaned up, but relatively uneventful. 

Saturday 4th July

Not quite the litter tsunami of last Saturday, but old carpet used for sleeping out at the Durngate bench - sorry I had to roll it up and leave by the bin - plus drug paraphernalia.  A rough sleeper near the River Park bridge was stirring under his blanket, but did not respond to my cheery Good Morning. No signs of drinking around him, so I hope he'll wake up and move on. Trinity was closed or I would have asked them.

Thursday 2 July - all OK

Quiet, a few folks around - nursery school group in the thicket at top of SPM. One bloke scooting his bike, didn’t stop. Minimal litter.

There’s a lot of creeping thistle near the pond.

A few spots!

Damselflies extremely busy along the reed edges. Numerous male Broad bodied chasers at the pond and a spectacular display from two Emperor dragonflies. Sedge warblers quiet apart from one whi had a great deal to say. Spotted numerous Peacock butterflies and some Skippers. Tree Creepers busy near the bridge to the park and was eyeballed and inspected by a furtive Cetti!

Noticeably cooler

 1 runner, 2 walkers and a strange woman getting water using a watering can on string. No surprise, a hostile response. She'd appeared from The Glade where there looked to be a path into a den but I didnt pursue it. I was as much concerned about her falling in as anything. Seemed odd, like she was on something.

Snipped some bramble & twigs but they'll be back.

Not much wildlfe visible but good sight of cows in rugby club side

Very low water at Pond with foot and paw prints

Sunday 28th June

Adults paddling. One bargy runner.  Two people who looked like they were about to go in the river until they saw me.

Saturday 27th June

 Lots of issues with the group sam mentioned from Friday. I wouldn't recommend approaching as they only respond by shouting and seem to enjoy when we try to communicate with them. Ages 14 to 15 group of 7. Other than that lots of friendly visitors too out enjoying the weather!   

Friday 26th June staff update

 Had a couple incidents with groups of kids trying to swim and challenge us while working on site. Thankfully they didn't swim at the time but unfortunately I think they will be back.

It looks like the new place to swim is near the post and rail fence between swimming pool meadow and no mans land. Under slight shade from the ash tree with little undergrowth and repeated use has left the bank vulnerable to erosion. 

For the second time we have put lots of brash in place in the hope to reduce access, we have also taken some limbs off the ash so there is less potential for the rope swing, we also found the metal sign which had been removed and vandalised, so this will go back on this week, so there is a clear sign of no access.

Saturday 27th June

Two large, full bags of litter plus three rusty, sharp-edged metal objects, fished from the river, now all in the bin. It's the season.....otherwise a lovely morning. Relieved to see no firelighting on the glade. Must bring my secateurs for the bramble next week.

Thursday 25th July - All OK

 Covering for Jim today.

Very hot, so only saw a couple of walkers and joggers today.

Everything looked OK.

Wednesday 24th June

Too hot!!  Sorry didn't do -  called it a day at 8.45am after spending time searching for all the animals on the northern end.  Gone to sit in the shade for the rest of the day!

Hot

 Out early to try to miss worst of heat. With a few runners and sedge warblers. Snipped a tiny bit of growth but, of course, it's moving fast right now. No litter

Sunday 21st June

If you are entering or leaving via NML be prepared to clamber!

Overheard the canoeists saying they didn't know where to turn around now that the rope has been taken down.

A few walkers. Too hot for runners.

Saturday 20th June

 The ash and willow that was blocking the popular swimming spot by the top of the loop on no mans land has been moved sadly and a rope swing has been made. Will make sure this gets put back and the swing removed. 

Muggy Saturday

 Rugby Club Meadow, 14 cattle on the far side of the meadow, 4 ponies hiding away in the trees just by the recreation ground.

Eastern Meadow, 17 cattle and 3 ponies, all together near the bottom end.

A34 Meadow, 5 cattle out in the open by the electric fence.

Thursday 18th

All good, no litter which was nice. Some graffiti on the pond platform but nothing offensive. 

June 18th

Warm humid morning at Winnall Moors, several groups of school children and a number of walkers enjoying the countryside. 

Duck with 6 ducklings at the pond. No other things to report so far.....

Wednesday 17th June

 Very quiet this morning. 5 cygnets with parents guarding them as they snooze on the bank by the pond junction. Lost track of time watching a mallard keeping a watch over her 6 ducklings on the pond! 

Tree branches still in place at the northern end. Marsh thistles in full bloom along with some purple loosestrife.

quiet

 "normal" sort of round - if there is such a thing.

Met a couple of regulars who told me about the City Council's plan for a new path on riverpark. They were worried about the potential effect on the Reserve. I've signed the petition.

No litter. Heard a Cetti's and Chiff Chaff among many others. Water levels ok

1 dead shrew but at least it means there are some live ones around

Sunday 14th June

 Bottle in the pond but I couldn't reach it

A few walkers, one runner. Party zones free of litter, remains of a fire in the Glade.

Saturday 13th June

 ​A nice day so quite a busy one, willow branches all still in tact at the top of the loop, fingers crossed they stay that way! Minimal litter and lots of respectful people. 

Thursday 11th June

 Sam walking most of the site. Nothing to report otherwise.

Wednesday 10th June

 Very quiet today with just one jogger. No litter! The willow tree branches are still in situ by the gate into No Man's Land but then it hasn't been the weather for much swimming recently!

After the rain . . .

 More water in the channels. We've had 6 days worth of rain since yesterday. Little movement, little litter. Spotted the ponies across the water. Moved a few branches that were low enough to be a nuisance. There's a willow from fishing lakes across the main channel and noted the work by the rails to Nomansland.

Friday 5th June Staff Update

All paths cut over the month, hopefully our summer warden Charlotte can keep them down with the strimmer now. 

Swimming activity logged by the rails of SPM and no mans land. Ash tree lopped to remove climbing potential, brash used along bank to reduce access, then trees pleached within and on top to create a living boundary. We will see how long it lasts! Fingers crossed. 

Thanks all,

Sam

Sunday 7th June

Festival in the park.  Few people about; had a chat with a couple of runners.

Thursday 4th June

Cut short this morning and didn’t check the glade/Durngate bench. Top end fine, chatted to a couple of appreciative visitors. The festival fence was open at the bridge so still possible to cross the field as long as someone is working on tents etc.

Wednesday 3rd June CHILLI FESTIVAL

 Weekend volunteers please note the Chilli Festival is back in the park! Railings and temporary loos being put in this morning. Will have to walk all round the fencing if approaching from the park. 

Didn't meet anyone - not surprising as wet and windy!

Lone female mallard on the pomd along with a McDonalds drink cup - retrieved the latter.

Cooler

 Fairly quiet. 2 runners, 2 walkers and swan family. Some darters and demoiselles, 3 tits, blackcap plus the usual. Nice to see the rail replaced. I put the original in 2009

Saturday 30th May

Lovely to see the ox-eye daisies coming on the glade, and the knapweed won't be long. And no new fire damage, thank goodness. I heard the cuckoo, near the paddling stream, which was a real treat. 

Condom packets and syringe packets at the Durngate bench. A beer drinking party to clear behind the Durngate board, plus lots of graffiti. The new boards are easy to clean!

A family with a toddler were admiring the swans with her cygnet as I was coming out. That makes it all worth it! 

Friday 29th May 2026

Started the day with a lovely brief sighting of a cuckoo as I entered the gate from Winnall Moors South. Cattle and Ponies in the meadows all content and looking well.

Thursday 28th May

Fencing into private area of reserve is broken and plenty of evidence of swimming going on. Quite a lot of litter removed from various areas of the reserve. Otherwise all quiet, a few visitors,all behaving themselves. 

Wednesday 27th May

 Fairly quiet on the reserve but busy in the old outdoor swimming pool though everyone keeping to the river bank on the park side. Two tents and a shopping trolley further down but again on the park bank. 

4 broad bodied chasers flying over the pond - 2 male and 2 females.  Think it must be damselfly day as demoiselles everywhere along the river and stream banks on both ends of the reserve.

Met a couple of people down from London for a few days - a bit hot for bird watching but seemed pleased with what they had seen.  Not much litter.

SAM - a lady by the broken seat on the river bank at the north end of the board walk was asking when the seat was going to be repaired as she liked sitting there.

HOT!

 Lots of runners. I was out a bit earlier. Very little litter. Low water. Otherwise nothing not already reported. Lots of methane leaving the Pond. There are a few holes on the approach to the Glade. Ankle twisters, not very visible. Had nothing to mark them with. Our cyclist was pushing it so I said hello but otherwise left well alone

Sunday 24th May

Some walkers, a pair of runners and one swimmer who hadn't seen the signs.

No litter in the party zones.