Tarvin Community Woodland Trust in Exceptional Times

As I write this, I am at the start of a period of 12 weeks of compulsory segregation – protecting me from the possible damage that might be done by Covid 19 to my already compromised breathing. At the time of writing, we expect that much of the activity of Tarvin Community Woodland Trust will be curtailed, although some of the Trustees are not 'confined to barracks' and will be able to deal with issues of safety and, possibly, some of the routine maintenance (while still remaining at 2 metres separation from others).

Those of you who are able to get out and about in order to take your daily exercise will be able to enjoy walking through our very own woodland (as long as you respect "social distancing" by staying 2 metres apart). Tarvin is highly unusual (if not unique) in having an area of woodland that belongs to the village and, thanks to the late Jim Grogan's clarity of vision, the paths through the woodland have all been designated as Public Footpaths and so cannot be closed. Enjoy your walks. Enjoy watching the changes in the woodland as spring moves through into summer. Those of us who are trapped in our homes would love to see your photographs on TarvinOnline and I would be very grateful to receive the photographs to add to the Trust's picture library.

What is certainly NOT going to happen will be the annual Plant Sale (scheduled for Saturday, 16th May). It would be entirely wrong for so many people to gather together in the present circumstances. However, the plants for the sale were ordered long before we were "locked down" and Jacqui already has many of them potted on and growing away happily. And, at some point, somewhere around mid-May, they will be in perfect condition to be planted into your gardens.

We must sell them. The cash that enables the Trust to maintain and develop the woodland comes largely from our own fundraising and, particularly, the annual sale of plants produces much of that money. So, how will we achieve this in extraordinary times? We don't know, exactly. What seems likely is that we will let folk know when particular plants are ready through TarvinOnline and we will put the trays of plants on display on our driveway, together with an honesty box. People will be able to come along, view the plants and choose their purchases – all at 2 metres separation!