Twelve volunteers met Paul at the car park for Hackfall Woods. The group included Nick – a newcomer, and Cheryl, a Geordie from London who was cat sitting for a relative and actively sought out some volunteering!
Armed with gloves and a mental image of Himalayan Balsam at all stages of growth, most of us walked down to the river and began where we had left off last week. Soon armfuls of the pernicious weed became huge piles which were occasionally trampled on. We moved deeper and deeper into the woods, pulling it up from amongst ferns, under trees and out of nettle patches. All sorts of fungi growing on dead wood emerged from the gloom, including a sinister black one which resembled a cow’s horn or a snail. We gladly moved out into brighter conditions and sat on the river beach for coffee before renewing the attack.
Well - let's make a start. There's plenty to choose from.
Yes - there certainly is. More over here ....
.......and over there.
The pile of ex-balsam starts to grow.
The stuff grows everywhere - even on the trees!
Cheryl admires the ferns that are now visible
on the cleared woodland floor.
Will and Phil joined Paul in a path clearance job which was mostly bracken thrashing but also removed bramble and other obstructions. Their work was complicated by a fallen branch across the path which served to delay their joining the rest of the group, as they only had bow saws to deal with it.
Never mind taking photographs - come and bash some bracken!
Colin enters the portals of Mowbray Castle
to check there is no bracken lurking inside...
...whilst Phil deals with the outside.
At lunch we discovered that there had been two casualties – both Will and Anita had suffered wasp stings and there was no shortage of advice on what to do. The afternoon proceeded much as the morning with an all out assault on the balsam infestation revealing a lovely under storey of Male and Buckler ferns. Pleased with the huge area we had cleared and complaining of backache we finished at 3pm.
Ruth
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