Too brash for me

If you enjoy reading about nature and the English countryside but haven’t yet discovered the work of Ronald Blythe, now is the perfect time to put that right. He became famous for Akenfield, about life and work in a fictitious Suffolk village, but the people he interviewed for it were all authentically residents of two villages near his own home. The book was made into a film (Watch Akenfield online - BFI Player), directed by Peter Hall no less. That was early in Blythe’s writing career, but he published many more books than that, his final one being Next to Nature, which came out late last year, only a few months before he died at the age of 100. It is a collection of the delightful short pieces under the heading Word from Wormingford which he wrote for the Church Times. He was a lay reader – deputising for vicars across several parishes – and became a lay canon of St Edmundsbury Cathedral, but turned down the chance to become a priest.

He often describes how rural dwellers were intimately connected to nature, and his sorrow that that is generally no longer the case. He also laments how in recent decades the land itself has been abused, perhaps beyond its ability to recover. But his glasses were not rose-tinted; he well knew about the harshness of life for the rural poor. Living with only his beloved cats in the ancient farmhouse he inherited from the painter John Nash, he had many friends, not least several of the current wonderful crop of East Anglian nature writers, who took turns to care for him in his final declining years. It’s clear to me he was a man at peace with his life, and his sublime writing reflects that. Next to Nature is in stock in Norfolk’s libraries, and I heartily recommend you join the waiting list to borrow it; which might lead you on to exploring his earlier books, and indeed those of his nature-writing friends.

George, our NWT Warden, has been busy with his chainsaw on the perimeter of the main reedbed, cutting down encroaching alders. As well as leaving some of the ‘brash’ to be cleared away on today’s working party…

…he also kindly cut up the substantial stuff into useful-sized logs for future burning – with the invitation to us to take home what we wanted. (This posting is therefore not just a blog, but a log blog © J. Dowland.) There they lay, characteristically orange, like some weird salmon (if they came log-shaped).

Your rather less than usual correspondent being unable to attend once again, thanks again go to Team Leader Julie for the following report:

With the hailstones and sleet first thing we did wonder if anyone would join us this morning. But we should have known better - sixteen of us set to work removing the brash left after NWT’s tree removal work earlier in the week. Half of it was lovingly woven into a dead hedge behind the dump site off the central fen area.

Well….”lovingly” until the thin branches snapped back to thwack us in the face…poor Noel ended the first half of the session with a facial reminder of how painful that can be. No photograph Noel - we are not that cruel!

 A similar exercise also took place on the recently cleared reed bed, with people lopping branches and dragging them off behind the dumped reed.

It was a little concerning when the call went up for tea and coffee to see someone face-planted in the mud…luckily it was only an unoccupied jacket that had fallen off the branch serving as a coat hook!

As illustrated by this un-characteristically camera-shy bunch, tea time was the usual social gathering - though Noel really needed to finish his story about his short cut over a golf course in London and subsequent sharing of a flask of coffee with a mystery person…come on!

Most of the team returned for the second half of the session and yet another dead hedge was created….a great windbreak for the winch operators next time we are in this area!

Four of us ventured into Area X where NWT had cut brambles from the boundary of the site to allow a neighbour to replace their fence. We were tasked with dragging the resulting tangle of brambles clear of the boundary.

Brandishing rakes and loppers and strong gloves we took on the task.

Several cries of “ouch” went up and gloves; hats and hair were tangled in the bramble being pulled from the hedge. But we managed to get it fairly clear.

We did find a very striking fungus growth on one of the cut branches. A mini work of art.

We returned to the main party to find your usual correspondent enjoying a leisurely stroll around the boardwalk, no doubt checking we’d done a good job!

(They had! Sadly, Basil and I even arrived too late for tea, and weren't immediately welcomed.)

I was however able to admire the handiwork of three fine sawyers, who each took a turn on this recalcitrant tri-trunked tree (try saying that in a hurry!)

A good job done - the area clear of branches and ready to start re-growing in the spring.

Here’s the message of thanks from the team leaders:

Hello all

Firstly, a huge thankyou to the 16 volunteers that turned out today despite the early hail and sleet.  Luckily the weather was kind to us and stayed dry for the work party.

We were able to clear all the brash left by NWTs tree clearance work earlier in the week. We also managed to replace some broken boards on the boardwalk.

We will check in with George (our NWT warden) to see if there is anything else that we need to attend to this season.  The nesting season restricts the tasks we can now undertake, however, if George identifies items that require attention we will run a final work party in two weeks’ time.  If not we will next be in touch about Himalayan Balsam removal around May-June time. I will put an email out to confirm George's decision.

The firewood has been moved to an area off the boardwalk adjacent to our container. This is nearer to the car park.  Please help yourself to the wood if you have a use for it (but it will need seasoning for a good year before it can be burnt).  First come first served!

Thank you all for your ongoing support - it is very much appreciated.

Regards, Julie and the team leaders