Berries galore

 I’m not too sure what poetry John Keats might have written in a time of climate breakdown, but so far at least there is little sign of his season of mists. The mellow fruitfulness is nowhere near as fruitful as it should be either, although hawthorn locally is a notable exception. This year’s glut of berries is perhaps just reflecting that for that plant at least the spring and early summer was good for it. There was a lot of blossom and plenty of pollinators in May so although we then had drought it would have got off to a good start, and with sufficiently deep roots it presumably found enough water to make the berries.

Another poetic John – Clare – started his ‘A Autumn Morning’ with “The autumn morning waked by many a gun…” and that has a very familiar ring to it, even after all these years. Meanwhile in Selborne back in 1781 Gilbert White was worried about the drought that was affecting the area, with wells drying up everywhere. Presumably reservoirs were not yet a thing, so dry wells will have represented quite a problem. Luckily, they didn’t have hosepipes either! He will also have been wrestling with the problem of where swallows and other birds of summer go at this time of year, not yet understanding the wonder of migration. On that topic, I saw my first redwings of the winter thrush influx yesterday.

Today, breaking with my usual practice of arriving on time for a working party I arrived uncharacteristically early; perhaps as much as ten minutes before the advertised start time. This coincided with the arrival of the redoubtable Noel, who greeted me with “If you’re here at the same time as me, I must be late” – rude! Anyway, 15 volunteers turned out to clear away material that had been cut previously. We’ve actually had some rain lately, meaning of course that the cut stuff was still wet, but fortunately not too heavy, and at least today the rain stayed away. In fact, from a chilly start the day just got better and better – almost too warm for comfortable working by midday.

Work was straightforward today: basically just raking or pitchforking material onto drag sheets…

… and tipping the sheets out at the dump site, accompanied by much good-natured banter.

Inevitably the mounds of dumped material grew, and your correspondent found himself at the summit of one such eminence, and thus able to look down on his colleagues.

We were dumping in a pleasantly bosky area, which particularly with the sunlight streaming through the branches was attractive enough to merit a photo of its own.

As previously described, ad nauseum, it is here that the work takes on some of the character of a music quiz, always featuring songs from several decades ago – even though nostalgia is not as good as it used to be. Today we started with Nowhere to Run from Martha Reeves & The Vandellas following a tricky moment when one of us was in danger of being trapped as a sheet was tipped out (NOT an uncommon occurrence). Tipping out sheets is an art in itself, best achieved when the sheet almost forms into a ball as it rolls over. This led to speculation about whether it could indeed fully encase its load and be rolled for some distance. Rollin’ rollin’ rollin’ then rang out at the dump site, enthusiastically performed by those who remember it from the ancient TV Western Rawhide starring a young Clint Eastwood. So many of our number still resemble Clint… More recently, it featured in the excellent film Blood Brothers, starring John Belushi. Some of our number still resemble John…

For no reason that I at least can remember, the penultimate offering in this set was Blame it on the Boogie from The Jacksons. Finally, as we were summoned to the mid-morning refreshments, Bob Dylan’s One More Cup of Coffee seemed the appropriate offering.

Here is the assembled company enjoying that break.

At this stage all sorts of friends, family and random interlopers magically appeared, but there was by then hardly any of Nina’s legendary Apple Cake left.

Back to work, and at one point we were also joined by this little frog.

At the end of the session the area looked like this 

Here is Team Leader Julie’s message of thanks:

Good afternoon

I hope you are all enjoying the lovely sunshine today - it was certainly a lovely day to be working on the common.

Our thanks go to the 15 volunteers who worked on the common today clearing the reed cut earlier in the week. Thanks also go to the Grizzly operators who did the pre-cut for us - often the unsung heroes!

We cleared a big area today, aided by the fact that the arisings are reasonably light in the area we were working on!  We were also powered on by half time apple cake provided by Dave in Nina's absence - and a great job he did too!

We will return in two weeks to finish the remaining area not done today.  

Thanks again

Regards, Julie

Walking past the Pit a couple of days ago, I saw that it has been much changed. A few weeks ago, all the reeds and other vegetation clogging it up had been cut and left in heaps in it. Now they’re all gone, and by the look of it the awful clogging Crassula helmsii has been scraped out too. The heavy machinery involved has made a bit of a mess of the grassy area, including the wildflower section, but that should recover in short order. Almost certainly, some Crassula will have evaded the scraping, so it’s likely to try to re-colonise the pond. We are therefore highly likely to be called to arms to try to prevent it gaining another foothold: watch this space! 

 

Alder Pulling again and again

 Your usual correspondent having had numerous excuses for absence, we’re grateful for the un-usual one for this account of the first session to pull out the encroaching alders in the Central Area (G) of the Common:

This is what we are tackling - a mass of young alders taking hold in the corner of the central area.  Cutting them with Grizzly is making them stronger so, depending on their size we decided to pull, pop or dig them out!!

See the intrepid Alder pullers starting this new task, while Margaret set to work on the bigger ones with the tree popper.

A specimen!

And a larger specimen pulled out!!

The heap of young alders removed.

But there are still more to tackle next week!

Here is the message of thanks from Team Leaders Margaret and Julie:

I know it's not normal to get a thank you on a Friday but today 7 volunteers joined Julie and me pulling up hundreds of Alder saplings and we are very grateful. The weather was kind and we made good inroads into the infestation in the corner. Such a good time was had, that we are going to repeat the fun next Friday at 2.00.

We had a couple of people saying that they couldn't come but you never let us down and 7 far exceeded our wildest hopes so thank you.

Margaret and Julie

The following Friday duly arrived, this time minus both your usual correspondents, but we do have Margaret’s message of thanks.

An enormous thank you to the 13 volunteers who came today. This includes the three chaps who did the pre-cut ready for Sunday. We were lucky to have (NWT warden) George pop past today and he was most impressed with your handiwork. So far we have totalled 18 volunteer hours on this one task alone which is amazing. Thank you. We had so much fun again that we are going to repeat it next Friday, same time, same channel as the old saying goes. Hopefully see some of you on Sunday.

Margaret for the team leaders

Two days later, and they were at it again, this time on a scheduled Sunday working party, incorporating some more alder pulling – and still minus your usual and un-usual correspondents, but we do have some photos of the event, along with another message of thanks from TL Margaret.

It’s interesting to note that in a change from the obligatory half-time photo opportunity, in the absence of your usual correspondent Dave managed to monopolise a bevy of booted beauties.

More work was carried out on the bit of Area G south of the boardwalk – this time featuring our mower Grizzly, minus its driver.

And here’s how that section looked at the end of the session.

Margaret then sent yet another message of thanks

Thank you as always to you all, particularly the 10 volunteers who came this morning. So glad that the rest of you had much better things to do. A good clearance was made and fortunately the material was light and easy to move. Area G is always the easiest area to work and your reward was the fantastic display of Devil's Bit Scabious and Grass of Parnassus that we have had this year. We will be returning to this task in two weeks’ time. In my last email about the Alder removal, I said we would return to this task this Friday. As it has been pointed out to me I, and several others, will be elsewhere, namely the Antingham and Southrepps Schools 200th celebration. So watch this space for the next working party.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Margaret for the team leaders

 

 

From snooker to embroidery: just another day on the Common

93% - that was the forecast from the Met. Office for humidity this morning, and I doubt any of the 13 hardy volunteers who attended today’s working party would have cause to doubt it. The morning (happily, the part of it before your usual correspondent ventured out) started with drizzle, but then it held off until we finished. So at least we could strip off so far as decency and legislation would allow, but there was precious little evaporation going on. We’ve mentioned before the old saying “horses sweat, gentlemen perspire, but ladies merely glow”: this time, there was no distinction – sweat applied equally.

Six person hours had been expended earlier in the week to perform the essential pre-cut of the part of Area G (the central bit of the Common) that is south of the boardwalk, leaving it looking like this.

On arrival (on time as usual, no sooner) I found only Janet, bravely forking material onto a drag sheet.

The lack of companions for her can be explained by the absence of several Team Leaders, who had come up with reasons to be absent. But have no fear, we were in the capable hands of TL Julie, who managed extremely well thank you, and before you knew it more volunteers started flocking in.

There’s an art to tipping out a drag sheet, and here’s how it’s best done.

And then there’s this:

A mishap has occurred, with Dave disappearing and at risk of being buried. Listen carefully, and your correspondent can be heard asking plaintively to be allowed to join in. Despite this, we found we were actually working at peak efficiency (for us, that is) with well-loaded sheets ready to be towed as soon as the previous one was tipped out. Already the task looked well on its way to completion.

Half-time came, providing a welcome opportunity to cool down for a bit, and an even more welcome piece of Nina’s famous and indeed essential apple cake.

Back at work and suitably refreshed, as always there was random conversation to eavesdrop on: reminiscences about free school milk, which was either un-drinkable because it had been left out in the cold and was frozen, or because it had been left out in the heat, and was curdled. That’s the sort of thing the pitchforkers discuss. Back at the winch end of the rope, there’s always much debate about where to tip out the next sheet. With growing piles (I know, we’ve done that joke before) the optimum spot for the next load is a matter of concern, so when someone suggested “that pocket there”, inevitably we went into a lot of useless fantasising about snooker tables, and which pocket on a table was meant by this. Regular readers won’t be surprised to learn that this persisted for several sheets, and incorporated the desirability of “going in off” in billiards and then a detour into bar billiards, with those tables having holes in the middle and mushrooms to add further confusion.

Meanwhile Dave, for reasons that now escape me, gave renditions of “When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin' Along” and “There’ll always be an England.” Perhaps it was his close shave with being buried that brought it on.

Bette Midler’s “From a Distance” featured briefly, connected to the fact that the sheets by now were having to be winched a fair old way, and the mound grew higher.

Meanwhile, the usually melodic Noel was strangely quiet: this was put down to the fact that he had been thinking a lot...

What he was plotting was the best route for the last set of sheets, and he came up with a course between two trees that he likened to threading them through the eye of a needle. This quickly became likened to embroidery – naturally. Here we see a sheet approaching the challenge:

And here we go, rather to a different Dave’s surprise…

Sometimes the Common’s inhabitants make themselves known while we’re messing up their home. This time it was a very active and healthy-looking common lizard.

There was some material on the other side of the boardwalk that also had to be cleared, and this too was done in time. Then it was time for the sheet folding specialists to consider things…

… and finally wrapping the whole thing up.

Here is TL Julie’s fuller message of thanks:

Hi all

This is a huge and heartfelt thanks to the 12 volunteers who joined me today on the Central Area. I knew we were down at least 6 regulars (including team leaders) and so was a little concerned about getting the task done, especially as it was raining first thing....but I should have known better and needn't have worried - our superb group of volunteers never disappoint - we got more reed moved today than I thought we would......you are all amazing. Thankfully the rain stopped for the duration of the work party - though it was very humid.

My chat about digging up the small Alders on the central area was also supported, so I will be putting out an email about doing that task for an hour next Friday afternoon early next week. Again you never cease to amaze me with your enthusiasm.

Thanks again

Regards, Julie

Here’s how that part of Area G now looks:

 

Earlier in the week three of us attended a two-handed talk by NWT’s David North and Nick Acheson. (David worked for the Trust for many years and now volunteers, and Nick is the Trust’s Wildlife Ambassador.) Publicity for this event seems to have been elusive, so it is thanks to our Sheila that she tipped us off that it was happening in the theatre attached to the excellent Black Swan pub and theatre in North Walsham. The talk was part of NWT’s celebration of 100 years of conservation in Norfolk, and was built around the four books that the two speakers have written between them: David’s Life Changing: Cley and Salthouse Marshes which we mentioned back in February and his just published biography of the legendary Bernard Bishop, sometime warden of Cley Marshes and still a volunteer there. This is described in the Trust’s blog (yes, there are other blogs!). Nick’s books are The Meaning of Geese which we mentioned back in May 2023, and more recently This Wild Dream: A Celebration of 100 Years of Norfolk Wildlife Trust. Amongst many other things, Nick was able to reveal that his beloved Pink-footed geese have begun to appear back at Cley for the winter.

 Here in Southrepps I see that despite the exceptionally hot and dry summer, the hedgerows are full of berries: many hawthorns and blackberries in particular (although a lot of the latter are in a bad state). This being the season for fungi, there are a few striking examples along the lanes, including these two. The usually reliable Obsidentify app has failed to tell me what they are, but perhaps someone out there will know. 

And finally, staff from NWT have been at work at Pit Common, cutting down all the reeds and reedmace that were clogging the pond. Presumably the clearing away of them is due to be completed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Après le deluge, les wellies

 Yesterday evening saw quite a deluge; sufficient in fact to knock out the power to Lower Southrepps, although for once the lights stayed on in the upper half of the village. After a couple of months without any significant rainfall, we had perhaps become a bit blasé about the need for waterproof footwear, but the more cautious among us reverted to our trusted Wellington boots, and were glad to have done so. Even so, although the vegetation was still quite wet, and in some areas pretty much flattened, where we were on the Warren Road side of the Beck was soft, but not squelchy. As mentioned often before, our fen is very absorbent, and acts as a good sponge protecting that part of the village.

Today’s turnout was 15 volunteers – a touch above the average number, and just about the right amount for the work we had to do. This was to clear the remaining cut vegetation from Area B, which had been cut the previous Tuesday. The weather was warm and quite humid, and once the sun emerged we were all quite hot enough thank you. Loose talk about “woodland saunas” prompted the inevitable musing on how much garment removing such a practice might involve.

Arriving as I tend to do bleary eyed but on time, and not half an hour early, it was pleasing to see the pitchforks artfully arranged. It seemed a shame to remove any and break the symmetry!

Disturbed they were however, and in short order heaps began to grow on the drag sheets. At this stage, the task was to remove extra cut material from Area A across the boardwalk and into the trees.

In those trees were Noel and Brian, keeping a sharp lookout for approaching laden sheets. Naturally, your usual correspondent’s shrill whistle alerted them to the need to look to their winch.

The consequence of this of course is the creation of piles of discarded material. It appears that Team Leader Kevin took the opportunity to practice his diving skills on one of them.

Here we see three well spread-out gentlemen, as if from an earlier era, waiting for the winch to spring into action and haul away their impressive load.

Over at the winch and dump site, banter was inevitable, although sadly little singing, apart from a brief snatch of We're on the Road to Nowhere. TL Kevin conveyed to us vividly the joy he got from buying at a very reasonable price a pair of extendible loppers from Lidl – complete with a lock, which we speculated might be an anti-theft enhancement. As Noel said, “You’re really rock and roll when you get excited by the Lidl middle aisle”!

The said Noel was today sporting a T-shirt bearing the image of Jimi Hendrix, the wearer’s favourite musician (in a close-run contest with Rachmaninov). I thought a Dolly tribute would have been more topical, but to our general surprise, he doesn’t possess such a garment. Here he is at half-time taking his ease in the still un-upholstered barrow, looking the picture of a man at peace with himself.

Tipping out the sheets is a physical task, and TL Kevin upbraided your correspondent for not achieving more, reasoning that I was young and strong: my response was that everything is relative. (As the great Douglas Adams apparently added to that, “Lunchtime doubly so”.)

We have already trailed the half-time break: here are most of the assembled company, scrambling for their share of Nina’s famous apple cake.

Immediately prior to that welcome intermission, over at the edge of Area X near where we were dumping, an outcrop of Himalayan Balsam was spotted, and thus needed removal.

That picture is courtesy of TL Julie. She also took this, although what we were doing is completely beyond me, but it looks suspicious.

We’re always looking for new operators of the machinery, and today Tim stepped forward to try his hand on the winch. (Tip: keep hands well away from the winch!)

You might be tempted to think that the winch chaperones have it easy, but often the sheets need steering. Usually working against the direction the winch wants to pull the sheet, it is possible to steer by tugging the sheet sideways, or sometimes by pulling the winch rope sideways. This little video illustrates the point.

At this stage the winch and its associated dump site had been moved closer to Area X, affording a nice photo opportunity.

Moving the winch often means doing a spot of gardening to create an accessible dump site close to it. Here Noel is urgently wielding so non-Lidl loppers whilst the sheet is on its way.

And oh, I almost forgot to mention it, but hysteria having set in some of the assembled ladies decided to show the male contingent how dragging a sheet manually is really quite easy. The comment from their ring-leader was that it was “an amble in the park”. Hmm, gentle reader, it’s for you to decide.

A source of particular pride for those ladies, as expressed at tea-time, was, and this is a direct quote, “their round, neat piles”. Make of that what you will, but there are no photos.

When the winch is involved, those sheets are attached to a steel bar, using what we call carabiners, although that might not be the proper name for that piece of kit. Anyway, they are vital, and when we lost one last time out we had to use our only spare. Unbounded therefore was the joy when Linda spotted the missing item gleaming in the sunshine this morning. Not from Lidl presumably, and therefore less exciting that Kevin’s Lidl loppers, but a number of spares have also now been added to the stocks.

Here is how Area B now looks, with that chunk of our work completed.

Here is Team Leader Julie’s message of thanks:

Hi all

This is a huge thank you to the 15 volunteers who turned out today to clear the reed on the Warren Road end of the site today.  It was incredibly warm and humid so the early start was the right choice!  

We have done what is required in this area for this season, so in two weeks’ time we will be moving our attention to the central area.  Please do go and walk around the central area if you can - it is packed with wildflowers (Devil's-bit scabious, Eyebright and Grass of Parnassus) and in the very centre very little reed - which is great news and shows that all our hard work each season is worth it.

So thanks to you all.   Go and enjoy the results of all your hard work!

Regards, Julie for the TLs

 

On the way back to the tool store at the end of the session, TLs Margaret and Julie made a foray into Area G, where much surveying and Lousewort spreading has been done. As Julie says above, it is currently a mass of Devils-bit Scabious and Eyebright, and well worth viewing. Here are some of Julie’s excellent photos.

The little white flowers are Eyebright.

Also very much on show at the moment are many of one of my favourite flowers here; Grass of Parnassus.

And finally, a request for help from Noel. His car has broken down, he believes terminally, and he would be very grateful for lifts into Cromer or North Walsham on occasion, if anyone happens to be going. He would he happy to share the cost of the petrol.