We're off - at last!

 Cor blast! What a cold blast, just as we returned to the Common for the first working party of 2026. Not so much the Beast from the East as the Pest from the West (and this time I am not referring to Mr. T). Despite the weather, still full of Christmas cheer and New Year bonhomie a bunch of us braved the conditions to do our bit for the nature of Southrepps. Unfortunately, on arrival the awful truth dawned, that the recent snow had covered the reeds which had been cut a few days before, and everything was frozen together…

… so the session had to be abandoned.

Then came Storm Goretti. Fortunately for us, it didn’t bring more snow – unlike many other parts of the country. It did bring however a great deal of rain. This did at least disperse the remaining snow and ice, but it also soaked the Common. Still, mustn’t grumble!

After an abandoned attempt to convene on the following Sunday, 17 of us at last set to work today removing the cut reed on Area E, which is the reed bed opposite the Bradfield Road Spur of the boardwalk, spreading round to the central area. To say the ground was soft is perhaps to understate it, but it was at least muddy enough to make you glad you had chosen your footwear well. At the start the mist made it chilly, but it’s surprising what a bit of pitchforking and drag sheet hauling can do to warm you up. We were also cheered to be joined by two new volunteers: welcome Lynne and Tim, and thanks for bringing rhyming names!

Work was soon under way, loading the sheets with the wet and heavy cut reeds.

The eagle-eyed viewer will have noticed a fork-load held aloft. Here in more detail is that fork-load, under which can just be discerned our own dear Bob.

That particular area is quite small and close to the boardwalk, so in order to create a decent dumping point a foray into the scrub was necessary. And that meant a long rope pull between the trees.

Blessed as we were with an excellent turnout, some people were able to be deployed in trimming back the said scrub.

You had to be quick however, or you’d miss them, with only their saws to show they were ever there.

In due course the half-time break arrived, during which geopolitics and local broadband provision seemed to be the main topics of conversation. Here Nina gets an honourable mention: although not with us today, her excellent and now famous apple cake was, so thanks Nina!

Team Leader Michelle had her first session with Grizzly …. Well done to her for that!

We’re rather good at creating dead hedges from cut scrub we think, and under Team Leader Julie’s well-practiced hand this one soon emerged.

Tipping out a heavily laden drag sheet can be challenging for a bunch of elderly blokes. Luckily Sheila was on her way to help, and Team Leader Julie was on hand to record it: "I think this shows the power of a single woman!!" is her not unreasonable comment.

Once the relatively easy stuff near the dumping point had been cleared it was time to move the winch and drag the cut material left beside the boardwalk round a corner to get to the new dump site.

This entailed a certain amount of steering the laden sheets, by a combination of hauling on the rope and dragging the moving sheet sideways. It’s best achieved with everyone concerned acting together, and the grunts and groans echo round the place. It put your correspondent in mind of what the magic of film has shown us it was like to heave up the anchor on ships of the line in the good old days of the Napoleonic Wars and suchlike. We needed a sea shanty, and musicians playing a fiddle and a squeezebox: sadly, none were present, so grunting and groaning was the best we could offer.

While we were grunting and groaning, a start was made on cutting the reeds on the other side of the boardwalk, ready for the next session. Some were moved across the boardwalk, which was suitably protected by a yellow sheet.

As we’ve seen before, the rope has a mind of its own, and the more of it we have to play out, the more it plays up. Sorting out this contorted bit of knitting is not easy, and entails someone (known as Brian for the purposes of this explanation) having to walk a long way with the end of the rope indoor to de-kink it.

At the end of the session, we had the satisfaction of admiring the fruits of our labours.

And here’s the result of pre-cutting Area G for next time, complete with blue sky.

Looking across from where we had been working towards the main reedbed in the late morning sunshine was also a suitable reward.

As was the first sight of the emerging snowdrops beside the boardwalk spur to Bradfield Road.

Team Leader Margaret also found this tiny toad, out and about already.

While your correspondent was admiring that little amphibian, and indeed photographing it for your enlightenment, I might have failed to notice that I was missing out on a bit of hard work. But as Dave said, "natural history records take priority", although I am not convinced he meant it!

Here is Team Leader Julie’s message of thanks:

Hello all,

After a false start two weeks ago, we had a very successful work party today clearing reed and scrub. Despite the rather misty, grey start to the day we had 17 volunteers who were rewarded with some lovely sunshine by the end of the session.

We welcomed two new volunteers, Lynne and Tim, which was great and we hope they enjoyed their first work party. They both certainly fitted in well and were soon looking like they had been with us for years!

We also send our thanks to Nina, who could not join us today. but still managed to send her, now famous, apple cake to sustain us!

We will return in two weeks time to tackle more reed clearance.

Regards, Julie and the TLs

 

My latest loan from the library was the recently published Just Earth by Tony Juniper, the Chair of Natural England. Drawing from his experience from a long career in nature conservation and environmental advocacy, backed up by meticulous research, this important book addresses the critical problems of climate change and nature depletion. His central theme is that the destructive and exploitative political policies and economic practices that have been dominant for almost a century have created the astonishing levels of inequality seen in individual countries, and between them too. He deals with the various forms of inequality thoroughly, but his main point is that those least responsible for these existential threats are the ones most badly affected. If new ways of thinking and running the world can be achieved before it’s absolutely too late, these will by definition have to make the world a fairer place for all. It’s a dense book with a lot of ideas and information to absorb, but I highly recommend it and only hope that it helps political leaders and major corporations around the world change their ways.

Incidentally, Tony was the guest on BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002ntnc) on 23^rd December. Well worth a listen!

 

We report wildlife and plant sightings to NWT, including those added to the whiteboard at the Information Point on Lower Street. In 2025 we sent 521 sightings reports, of which 275 were from the whiteboard (excluding dinosaurs and family pets of course!) The remainder were sighting sent to me direct, and my own records from the excellent Birdtrack database (https://www.bto.org/get-involved/volunteer/projects/birdtrack), which I highly recommend. In addition birds it also covers reptiles, mammals, butterflies, dragonflies and orchids, and using it contributes to the overall national picture of what lives where, as well as being your own personal record.

Within those 521 records were 75 bird species; 10 mammals; 37 flowering plants (but these are much more extensively surveyed regularly by our own botanical experts); 2 amphibians; 10 butterflies; 1 moth and 1 bug: a total of 137 different species.

 

And finally, you might have noticed something different about the blog this time. We decided that it would be good to include a selection of photographs from our activities and about the commons generally, as well as those that are included in each blog posting. In order to do that we have created two tabs; the ‘Home’ one is for the blog posts, and the ‘Gallery’ one should be self-explanatory. A post called ‘Helpful Hints’ about how to use these will come at the top of the list of posts, and that is how you will have seen it this time. Crucially, those helpful hints explain how to switch between the two tabs when using a mobile phone (it’s very clear on a PC). We hope you enjoy the new Gallery, which will grow over time.