A Saturday Morning in Orton Waterville

I'm often asked whether I'll be 'doing anything nice over the weekend'. My answer is invariably 'yes' as I spend my weekends where I spend my weekdays, at home, with you, in the Ortons.

This Saturday has been a particularly busy one.

Gostwick allotments, Orton Brimbles

The day started in Gostwick allotments in Orton Brimbles. Here I met up with fellow Green Party members and parish councillors Alex Airey and Roger Proudfoot to have a look at the allotments. It was really good to see so many well-tended plots with space for more keen gardeners to get involved.

Playground at The Gannocks, Orton Waterville

Roger tests the slide at The Gannocks playground, all in the interests of research 

Roger, Alex and I then popped across to Orton Waterville to take a look at the playground facilities at The Gannocks. Shortly before the last City Council elections, I was contacted by a local resident with a request for better play facilities for her grandchildren at the site. I directed the lady to the parish council which is now looking into it with a group of local residents.

Alex & Roger check out the wild flowers blooming by the sports field adjacent to Mill Crescent, Orton Waterville

Our next stop was the ponds near Mill Crescent where red kites flew overhead. In particular, we wanted to take a look at some land adjacent to the sports field at the end of Mill Crescent that has in the past been set aside for wild flowers. We are very keen to see more of Peterborough's grasslands turned into meadows. In fact, this is the subject of an article that Roger has written for this week's edition of the Peterborough Telegraph - I popped into the newsagent in Church Drive to pick up a copy!

St Mary's Church, Church Drive, Orton Waterville

At the St Mary's Church Charity Coffee Morning, Orton Waterville

Our walk took us past St Mary's Church where we noticed a charity coffee morning was in full swing. Someone said 'cake' and before anyone else could say 'lemon drizzle' the three of us were sitting down in the church enjoying tea, coffee and homemade baked goods. We met a number of residents who explained that the purpose of the coffee morning is to raise funds for local charities, today's being East Anglia's Children's Hospices. We all bought raffle tickets and both Alex and I came away with a prize each (chocolates and bubble bath) while Roger was very happy to be given some free tomato plants.

Roger selects a tomato plant

Our final stop was the historic Windmill pub on Cherry Orton Road, where we gave our legs a rest and reflected on the morning's events. I confess our visits to The Windmill slightly out number our visits to St Mary's but as we managed to spend time in both today (and spent more money in St Mary's) we left feeling virtuous.

The Windmill, Cherry Orton Road, Orton Waterville

Just a simple walk around any part of Orton will bring you close to nature and to areas of great natural beauty. Over the coming months, I hope to meet with more residents to find out how we can help you preserve and protect the areas we already have and create more enriching natural spaces for everyone to enjoy.