Anyone for balsam pulling?
You too could enjoy spending time like this!
Or not. It's up to you. But, according to the latest research published in a highly regarded scientific journal, the weekly act of working hard in hot weather, scrambling along a river bed, pulling up and crushing balsam, "allows the body to purge itself of all toxins and leaves participants with a wonderful sense of wellbeing when the job is done." (Snedworth , 2026, p.42)
A small band of NCVs decided to try out this activity to see if Samuel Snedworth's claims were true. I have to say - they had their doubts. Here are some pieces of evidence of what ensued during this experiment.
Not much sign of HB
yet. Not much water
in the river either.
Is this some?
NO! Leave it alone.
It is a beautiful giant bell flower.
Uh oh. There is definitely some here.
There was a competition
for the largest plant found.
What about this one?
No. Ftoo diddly.
Well - what about this one?
No. Still too feeble.
What about mine?
Oh yes!! Now that is what you call
a good size for an HB plant.
Dawn wins the prize.
Lunch in the sun provided a
little respite for the legs,
but not from the heat.
The hunt continued until...
...the skull of a previous HB hunter
was spotted - clearly an NCV who
had been left behind last year.
Nobody could face going any
further after that!!!.
At the end of the day Liz asked the NCVs to complete a set of forms to provide Professor Snedworth with some useful feedback upon which he might take his research forward. When Liz gathered in the papers she decided that it might not be such a good idea to forward them to the Prof. It was highly likely that he would be offended by the, often less than polite, responses. The NCVs did not feel any benefits what-so-ever from this undertaking and had made this crystal clear in their feedback.
Ref. List
Snedworth, S. (2026) 'Balsam and the Body Beautiful' in All Things Environmental Issue.45 pp. 36-50
Last Thursday a select band of 3 of the rights of way team joined Liz on a bridge survey day in the Thornthwaite and Padside area. 6 bridges were checked in very hot conditions and all needed cleaning.
Here they are in action....
We walked over bridge
number one without realising -
a stone vehicular structure.
Did anyone bring the Pledge?
Bridge 2 involved a long walk but was easy to spot.
A metal suspension bridge -
with rotten rails underneath
the floorboards. Oh dear!
Bridge 3 involved a very long walk
across a field of waist high thistles.
Ouch!
Once we arrived we discovered
that the three stone slab bridge
had lost a slab into the beck.
Bridges 4, 5 and 6
were all similar wooden
structures in need of encroaching
vegetation removal and
moss scraping and brushing.
And finally - from last Wednesday....
A Wallers' Update from Breaksfold Farm
by Graham
Another good turnout at Breaksfold Farm; seven in all. A dull start had been forecast but the mist and cold were not expected. Hence an "unhappy" Graham in fleece and wooly hat! The sun didn't appear until the end of lunchtime, at which point it came out with a vengeance.
Grumpy Graham. Heat wave!
What heatwave?
There was excellent progress on the new section with foundations completed by coffee break and then a further four courses completed.
Duncan checks the foundations
Nice looking wall, just the
cover band and toppers to add.
Work on the longer section was slower going, requiring half a dozen or so thin, time consuming, courses. Hopefully next week will see the toppers added. As usual lovely views, inquisitive sheep and birds singing.
End of day looking towards
the new Blubberhouses bypass.
And the wall from the other side!
Impressively straight!
No comments:
Post a Comment