As many of you will have seen, both the WW1 Sutton Badges, The Royal Warwickshire and the Shiny 7th, are in need of some maintenance to restore their whiteness and visibility.
Last year, in addition to strimming parties and individual efforts, we held two ‘working picnic’ days for volunteers to weed the chalk badges.
Despite the steep slope these days are ‘hard work but fun’, and if the weather is kind, the view to the north is stunning.
This year, the Sutton Mandeville Heritage Trust, which looks after the badges, plan to hold several of our working picnics to weed and maintain the badges. The first stage is for the hillside grass to be strimmed back.
Although we have a loyal band of volunteers, we would welcome additional members to come along and help keep the badges in good condition. Only ordinary gardening tools are required.
Our working picnics are usually held on a Saturday, between 10am and 3pm (although arriving later or leaving early is not a problem). The first picnic is likely to be end April /early May, with others in June and July.
If you would like to volunteer to help us maintain the badges and the Heritage of Sutton Mandeville, please email me at johngailey41@hotmail.com
In addition, we hope to hold a village information meeting, with a talk on the badges and their place, alongside the Fovant and Australia badges, in the World War One history of the area.
More information and historical context: