The supply of visitors to your usual correspondent having temporarily dried up, he has made a surprise return to the fold. So numerous are the newly recruited volunteers, half the assembled workers have no idea who he is. I have to tell you dear reader, he is the one responsible for this drivel.
Since the last posting of this blog, there has been a sharp uptick in the level of activity; our volunteers are back, looking after the best interests of the local birds and bees, beetles and butterflies, and of course the botanicals. The start date of Natural England’s cutting programme for the SSSI has now passed, and the first working parties are under our collective belt. On Friday 6th Team Leaders Julie and Margaret toiled away for a couple of hours in the central area, cutting four bagfuls of reeds by hand, in order to avoid the need for the mower to be used there, and thus protect the most prolific of the wild flowers which have not yet set seed.
It was warm work in high humidity, but then a heavy shower came along. Fortunately they were able to take shelter in the tool store, but then decided to remove some Himalayan Balsam plants that were encroaching into the reedbed – the now very wet reeds transferring much of their recently acquired rain onto the two plucky adventurers.
On Saturday 7th a significant milestone was reached, with the scattering of seeds on our embryo wildflower meadow at Pit Common. A lot of hard work had already been put into preparing the ground, by way of removing pernicious weeds like Dock and Hogweed, as well as removing a good proportion of the turf in the selected and roped-off section of the Common. More of that went on before the arrival of the seeds, which had been collected that morning by Aaron, NWT’s expert in these matters. He arrived in a car laden with newly mown plants, as well as a couple of buckets containing seeds mixed with sand. Here’s how the site looked during its preparation:
The loose seeds were scattered across the patch, and then the ‘green hay’ as it is known was strewn on top; the idea being that there will be many more seeds contained in it. Seeds in the mix included oxeye daisy, sulphur clover, field scabious, yellow rattle, cowslip, common bird’s-foot-trefoil and meadow vetchling. The yellow rattle is particularly useful, as it parasitises several grass species, weakening them enough to give other plants a chance to thrive. Passers-by will have been struck by the sight of seven people apparently doing some kind of primitive dance, as the hay was trodden down.
They will rightly have surmised that it was a rain dance, because a few hours later the heavens opened and considerable precipitation was the result. Here the dancers are, sheltering from the rain during a less extreme shower; don’t they look surprisingly cheerful?
In addition to the main section, a small patch at the far end of the site patronised by moles was also treated in the same way. Aaron has recommended a spring cut of the flower area in March with the ‘arisings’ removed, and then a cut in August/September after the seeds have set. These can then be used to gradually increase the wildflower area, using the same technique.
Here’s how the site looked after the ritual strewing was complete.
The next session was on Friday 13th when six brave souls fought their way through the reed to remove the Himalayan Balsam infesting both sides of the Beck on Area F, near the car park. As Team Leader Julie reports, “The reed and Balsam towered above all of us and after last night’s rain it was a very wet job! Luckily no one fell in the Beck though!
Nonetheless, a reasonable haul was evident by the end. Here are those snazzy braces again, with Team Leader Kevin modelling his new plastic skirt for good measure; the voluminous look is in this year!
15 volunteers (including four recently recruited ones) arrived in the late summer but early morning sunshine on Sunday 15th, eager to squelch around in the mud whilst clearing the recently cut reed and grass from the central area of the Common, so evocatively named Area G.
As usual, the work required nifty use of the pitchfork, heaving the heavy wet stuff onto drag sheets for winching to the dump site at the edge of the area.
Team Leader Julie wielded her camera to artistic effect, spotting the moment when it seemed a spotlight had picked out Andrew in mid-dance.
Now we are back with refreshments allowed, at half-time we gathered together for the customary group photo; not in the reeds I hasten to add, but on the cunningly well-hidden boardwalk.
We often focus on fashion in this blog; with Team Leader Kevin and his snazzy braces absent, the day was saved by this fetching matching ensemble, created by Norfolk Wildlife Trust and modelled by Pauline and Richard.
Neither of the two photographers on duty remembered to take a shot of the area once our work was done, but this one gives a reasonable impression of what it looks like now, although you must try to imagine it without the quartet of volunteers.
A lot of the equipment we use is transported from its store to close to where it’s needed on a little green trolley. This has a wheel at each corner, theoretically making it easier to pull to where it is wanted. As it seemed harder going than usual on its way back to the tool store, we noticed that the pneumatic tyres lacked an adequate amount of the requisite component; air. Your correspondent sought to rectify the situation by using the foot pump he so wisely carries in his car, and started pumping the tyres from 0 to the correct pressure as embossed on the tyre wall. All went well for the first tyre, and indeed it seemed it had for the second, until with an almighty bang, it burst! The evidence is presented for all to see:
A couple of minutes later the regular troop of Alpacas processed along the boardwalk, and took a keen interest in the aftermath of the event. Luckily, they did not seem to have been traumatised by the recent explosion, unlike your correspondent, who took some persuading that he had not in fact been shot.
New volunteer Michelle had placed her backpack on the ground at the start of the session. On retrieving it at the end, she was surprised to find a couple of squatters had moved in.
Here’s the message of thanks from Team Leaders Julie and John:
Hello
all
We ran
another work party today clearing reed from the fen in the central area.
Several of our regular volunteers were off doing other exciting things today,
but the lovely weather attracted 15 volunteers anyway. We had old faces
returning and new faces joining us and it was a lovely session and we cleared
the reed, which had been cut in the week, with ease! Thank you to all involved.
Thanks
also to Sheila for organising the refreshments for us today - they were very
welcome as it was a warm day.
We will
be back on the common in two weeks and will send the usual information on where
we will be working nearer the day!
Enjoy
the lovely weather.
Regards,
Julie and John H
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