At the edge of the path

Thanks for the splendiferous response to yesterday's. Now for something more everyday.

A couple of years ago a group of local people negotiated the use of an 11-acre abandoned sports field between the railway line and the ring road to use as a communal 'eco-park'. There is a plantation of trees, some of which will bear fruit in due course, a shared garden where people gather each Sunday to grow vegetables, a renovated pavilion - which now houses a kitchen, an eating area, some sofas and an out-of-tune-piano - and a wind turbine.

Today local people were invited to come and celebrate the opening of a cafe in the pavilion. By the time we lazily arrived in the mid-afternoon sun so many other people had already turned up that the café had run out of food and tea and coffee! So we sat on the grass chatting, found out more about the local food bank which is now rescuing and distributing about two tons of food each week, and bought some strawberry plants before heading back over the railway bridge for home.

Apart from some tree planting in the early days we've been involved very little, but it's great to see it thriving.