Not a lot is happening at this time of the year, as

most of the foilage is changing its colours and slowing down and many others are hibernating - so far the only plant that is in flower is the gorse over where some think of as an old pile of river dredgings when in fact it is home to much of the reptile, amphibians and small mammals (and obvious haunt of the fox families who live near by).

We have been doing more scrub-bashing and it has changed the look of the meadow quite dramatically now as so much willow and buddlea has now been removed. Still there is more to do but we should have done all of it now by the end of the year. It will be very interesting (exciting even) to see how this work will slowly begin to change the biodiversity of the meadow - it has certainly changed the overall view of the meadow, where it had huge wild clumps of willow and buddlea you can now see much more of the meadow.

We're doing more scrub-bashing in the meadow this sunday and its going well (Gareth the countryside ranger led a group of Duke of Edinburgh award students last sunday), but more needs to be done. This sunday we're also being joined by Cardiff Conservation Volunteers who tend to work from 10am till 4pm; however, you can just come along when you feel like it and maybe help out a little when you can.

Its a great way to keep fit and can suit all levels of ability. Everyone is welcome, but children need to be supervised and accompanied by an adult. All tools will be provided. You will need to wear sturdy boots/shoes and suitable clothing (there are brambles in some sections!), plus we can't always guarantee the lovely weather we had last time so you may need to bring along waterproofs. Basic refreshments (squash, water, and biscuits, and may be coffee if I can obtain a large flask in time) are provided but you may also want to bring your own.

It's a good way to start your week by getting rid of the frustrations of the previous week --- lopping and chopping down the buddlea and willow that is invading the meadow. You will also be helping us regenerate a meadow so that next year we will have a better array of plants and wildlife.

Either meet up in the car park on Hailey Park (top of Radyr Road) at 9.45-10am on Sunday 16 November, or if later than 10am then we'll be in the meadow area (beyond the changing rooms).

Hope to see some of you there at some stage.

You may also have seen the council working on the park in various areas --- they have been out improving some of the paths over at the Hazlehurst Road side of the park (up towards the play area) and today they have been cutting back the trees in the graffiti wall area down to Station Road/Bridge Road behind James and Jenkins and some members of Friends of Hailey Park have been litterpicking in that area as well.