A spring meadow lunch
A number of appointments today around the Stroud area, so I set off early to park up for the first. This was a meeting with Tim from Connected By Data to discuss how communities are involved in decisions around the use of AI.
I was joined by David and Richard, who both have interests in different aspects of the community around Dursley. My own interest is the development of AI at Dursley Code Club, as well as the role and use of the library as a place to connect the community with technology.
A lot of the discussion centered around policy and big picture initiatives, but there were some practical examples we could try and incubate locally. It’s a huge topic, and while I’m interested in the big picture ideas, I really only want to dedicate time to actually doing activities on the ground.
At lunch time, I headed up the Painswick Valley to Stuart’s meadow from Stroud Valleys Project. He invited the tree planting team to a lunch and walk around the spring flowers.
There was a fire, pots of delicious soup and homemade hummus from Sabine. All finished off with cake and other snacks.
The weather was just perfect – sunny and warm in the open and perfect light. The cuckoo flowers were stunning – big patches opened up from recently cleared bramble. The conversation flowed well, with lots of interesting chat between everyone. The Sapperton Wilder team were there also, and it was fascinating to hear their development plans.
Stuart gave a tour of the meadow, and the work to dam the brook and create a richer biodiversity in the floodplain. It’s moved on quite a bit since I last visited a year ago, with most of the scrub in the main grassland removed. It’s also been grazed which has made a huge difference.
My final appointment was with Maureen from the Stroud Wildlife Survey Group to try and fix her email access that’s been plaguing for a while. I managed to get her laptop configured and she gave me a tour of the garden. Her house really has one of the best views in Stroud, looking over the town, Rodborough and Selsey common in a wide vista.
