At the end of March, many local residents and walkers in Overton and Five Crosses ward were intrigued and happy to see the paths and seating areas of Manley Road Copse being made more accessible for visitors, as maintenance work was carried out to spruce up the space.

Work has continued in earnest since then, and the Copse is looking like a very welcoming place for people to come and sit, meet, socialise and picnic!

The hedgerow bordering Manley Road has been cut back, all brambles and unwanted vegetation has been brush cut to the round, unsightly or damaged small trees have been felled or tended, ivy has been removed from taller trees, litter picked up and wood chip spread on the footpaths.

Timber taken from the trees has also been stacked into habitat piles for the creatures who call the Copse home.

Speaking at a Frodsham Town Council Amenities Committee meeting on Monday (April 19), Frodsham WI member, Vivien Shaw, said: "Four men from Frodsham Tree Solutions did a wonderful job [on the Copse]. They were there for a whole day and were very creative in what they did.

"They came back about a week ago to finish off the last bits of clearance. We did talk about further work – putting down weed killer – which we said we would rather not do if we could avoid it, because we have spent a whole day digging out brambles and we'd like to see how effective we were before we start putting chemicals down.

"We've had huge numbers of positive [comments] from people saying: "Gosh! I didn't know this existed!" and a lot of people have been using it."

Frodsham WI has now agreed to act as a sort of 'Friends of Manley Road Copse' group, taking responsibility for its maintenance in cooperation with the Town Council, who own the land.

WI members will now work with the Town Council to make any necessary constitutional changes that will allow them to apply for grants for future Copse projects from organisations such as the Marshes Community Benefit Fund.