Pit stop

 Autumn is well and truly here now: straggling skeins of geese overhead flying between coastal marshes and inland fields; flocks of redwings and fieldfares in the bushes; raucous rooks in their rookery; my neighbour’s numberless leaves in my little garden.

We didn’t get all of Area A finished by the end of September deadline due to a combination of unreliable machinery and all-too-reliable wasps objecting to our presence. Unfortunately, Natural England’s deadline is sacrosanct and no extension was granted, so what remains must carry on remaining until the ‘window’ for fen cutting opens again in August 2024. We can’t allow volunteer hands to remain idle however, so 20 of us convened at Pit Common for a spot of scrub bashing and grass raking on a gorgeous autumn morning, sandwiched between last night’s downpour and this afternoon’s one.

Before the fun begins, preparation is all. Here we see the wheelbarrows lined up ready to go up to the Pit - still no trolley!

Then there’s planning the works and instructing the volunteers.

The site was identified for our dead hedge off the footpath

And the material for it quickly built up.

Your usual correspondent arrived fashionably late (but not too late for tea) to the usual chorus of disapproval, but it’s water off a duck’s back. Already under way was feverish activity: dead hedging, lopping, sawing, brush cutting, and ditch dredging were happening around the Pit and up the footpath so beloved of dog walkers such as myself. It was hard to know which activity would benefit most from my attendance, but I was soon dragooned into hauling spikey cut material from where it lay to form a different pile, to the delight of the dead-hedging crew, who were getting a bit overwhelmed (and not only by my presence). Here are the happy hedgers:

Vegetation has a habit of growing across paths, so where necessary it has to be rebuked – in this case with a saw.

Meanwhile the vicinity of the Pit itself was also a hive of activity, in bright sunshine. Note the splendid wheelbarrow, much admired by the team.

There’s been a lot of rain recently, at least some of which has made its way into the Pit; it’s nice to see it looking like a pond again.

The gullies leading into the pond were in need of clearing out, and Noel in his snazzy dungarees was the man for the job.

When grass and other vegetation gets cut, it needs dumping, so our trusty yellow drag sheet was needed. Also needed were people to drag it, and by the end of the session they were jolly tired!

An hour in (or 15 minutes for tardy correspondents), there was a well-earned half time break.

The dead hedge beside the footpath took a lot of effort from several people, but the end result is worth it. Here it’s having the finishing touches added to it.

Ta-da…. Team Leader Julie thinks she has dead hedge OCD 🤣🤣

She might be right, because she was then involved in the creation of a second one to use the branches from a willow removed from the edge of the pond.

By the end of the session, we had a lovely clear and bright footpath.

Here is Team Leader Margaret’s message of thanks

Thank you to everyone who came today. 20 wonderful volunteers on a glorious Autumn morning.

Thanks to you all, walkers no longer have to duck when walking up next to the pit and they might even be able to dodge the worst of the mud. The gullies to the pit have been cleared ready for the next downpour and the rough grass cut and cleared. We also have two magnificent dead hedges to admire.

In two weeks’ time we should be working on School Common but we will keep you posted. Thank you all and enjoy the afternoon.

Margaret for the team leaders

Area A done - for now

Five years ago Isabella Tree published Wilding, describing how she and her husband Charlie Burrell transformed their exhausted farm and estate into a wildlife paradise, and returned their business to profitability at the same time. The Knepp Estate in Sussex has become the benchmark for large-scale rewilding in this country, and therefore attracts many calls for help and advice. The Book of Wilding is their response, and it has to be said, it’s a whole lotta book: it’s the sort to bend shelves, and you’re well advised to bend at the knees when picking it up. I have been waiting my turn to borrow it from the library for a while, but now I have it I am taking what I can from its 500-odd pages in my allotted three weeks.

The early chapters discuss what rewilding is; how it is being done in the UK; how it can be done for rivers, lakes and ponds; using plants to do it, and using animals where appropriate. Further on it gives advice on how to rewild your own land, regardless of whether you have a huge estate, a small garden, or even a window box, so it’s not essential to read the whole thing.

One of the misconceptions about rewilding is that it’s just about letting everything do what it wants, but this book makes it clear that it’s needed when natural systems have broken down, and they need a kick in the right direction. In many cases areas and the species in them require special protection, so rewilding is then not necessarily the right approach; it’s most successful for places with severely compromised biodiversity. The bigger the site, the less work is required, as large herbivores can be drafted in to do it, replicating the way often now-extinct animals interacted with the environment. In smaller sites, when it’s just not practical to put a herd of cattle in, or ponies, or water buffalo, it’s up to people and machines to do what all those big beasts do, in terms of opening up areas, creating wallows, etc, etc. It’s a big book in every sense, but well worth the effort.

 

NWT’s warden looking after Southrepps Commons is George Baldock, and he also has the small matter of Cley and Salthouse Marshes to look after. He kindly invited us to visit the bigger reserve for a tour yesterday; here’s what one of the attendees (Sue) said about it.

“I think everyone enjoyed the Cley visit today even though the cool weather was a bit of a shock to the system! Really good to see the work being done to keep the reed beds under control (bit larger scale than Southrepps) and also the changes to drainage to allow the salt water to escape the next time the sea comes to visit.”

Here are some images from the visit, the muddy ones showing the ongoing work to mitigate against further sea water incursions.

Huge thanks to George for hosting us and sharing his knowledge of the site.  He also wanted to pass on to all the volunteers his thanks for all of our work at the Southrepps site - he really appreciates all our efforts.

And those efforts continued today, when 17 volunteers turned up to finish clearing the cut vegetation on Area A alongside Warren Road. Due to an epidemic of mower failures, a small patch remains uncut for the time being. From a distance, it didn’t look like there was much left to do…

… but closer inspection revealed a different story, and it was a pretty nasty mix of wet grass and long, dead and still very prickly thistles.

The intention had been to repat the process of the previous working party, with lightly loaded sheets dragged relatively short distances by hand, with other, heavily laden ones winched down to the dump site hidden in the trees. That was quickly thwarted at the winch site, when Noel came to realise that, despite the newly cold weather, there was a still-active wasps’ next there. This realisation came to him when he was stung on the cheek: his ever-sympathetic colleagues quickly nicknamed him Sting, but luckily Sting did not sing.

With our piled up dump site out of bounds, the decision was made to create an extended one along the perimeter of the area, each little heap representing a single drag sheet’s worth.

In a blast from the past, every sheet was dragged by hand, and tipped over manually too.

Tea break came in the sunshine, which made a nice contrast to the shower we had enjoyed earlier.

And as is mandatory, here’s a picture of Noel taking his ease, this time under supervision.

Refreshed in body and spirit, work resumed. Here we see Linda driving a team of three sheet draggers: if you listened carefully you could hear her calling “Giddy Up!”

Too late to join in, a party of walkers processed along the boardwalk Here’s what good old Area A looked like by the time we had finished with it.

Here is Team Leader Kevin’s message of thanks:

On a day that started quite chilly and eventually turned into warm sunshine (although there was a slight shower) seventeen volunteers turned out to finish clearing the arisings from area A. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the last of the vegetation was unable to be cut due to a series of mechanical failures with NWT’s Grillo machines. This was probably just as well as we were unable to use our winch due to wasp activity in that area. This meant that the volunteers had to use their muscles dragging and hauling sheets in order to clear the area.

Once again thank you and we look forward to seeing you again in a fortnight when we will be on Pit Common.

Kevin on behalf of the team leaders. 

Big cut done

 

Wasps are splendid and important animals, pollinating and predating for all they’re worth, and there are loads of different species, most of them being solitary types. However, the species we encounter most is the Common Wasp, and they are social insects, if not very sociable. They collectively take a dim view of having their nests disturbed; they are the ultimate NIMBYs. Last week the pressure was on to get the whole of Area A beside Warren Road cut, in order to hit Natural England’s requirement that it is done by the end of September. Thus it was that Kevin drove Grillo the substitute mower on Tuesday, unerringly picking out a nest nestling in the grass, and, deeming him responsible, its occupants expressed their dissatisfaction in the time-honoured and painful way by delivering at least five stings.

The following day NWT warden George came along with a second mower, and cut some more, with John on Grillo. John found another wasps’ nest (fortunately without incident), and George found a Harvest mouse. Then on Friday he was back with four of his Cley volunteers. All was going well until Grillo broke down (physically, not emotionally), so a chunk of the area remains uncut.

Meanwhile, Julie, Sue and Margaret did another back-breaking session hand pulling reeds on the central area (G).

A lot was added to the dump site…

… with almost none left.

While they were there, Sue discovered a pretty little fungus – has anyone got an identification for it?

They had almost completed the task - John was to just run Grillo over the bit near the boardwalk by the reed bed, but the machine went on strike part-way through the job. So for the three reed-pulling specialists today’s work session started earlier than usual in order to finish the task and clear the material cut by Grillo (before it broke down).

Once the main work session began, Sue gamely finished the job off alone, whilst the other two moved in Team Leader mode to Area A.

And so it was that 14 of us convened on a muggy Sunday morning, facing the prospect of clearing a mass of previously cut material.

This is where Team Leaders Julie and Margaret showed their mettle, for in addition to Grillo’s breakdown, our wonderful little green trolley that is used to transport tools etc. had also suffered a terminal failure in the wheel department, forcing a quick change to a convoy of wheelbarrows.

Kevin’s wasp nest (as it shall be known henceforth) was slap bang where it had been intended to put a dump site, so there was debate as to whether we could even use the winch! Finally, it was agreed we could winch some material to the bottom end of the site and hand pull lighter loads to a dump around the corner from the wasps.

In a great blast of nostalgia for the previous way of working pre-winch, old yellow sheets were dragged by hand to then be turned over.

Being quite light, there may have been a little too much enthusiasm with tipping them out at first: it resulted in Margaret tumbling backwards into a clump of stinging nettles. Such was our concern for her that surprisingly neither of the two usual photographers for this blog thought of capturing the moment for posterity.

The hand-dragging folk made superb progress, with many short pulls being possible whilst the winch was more slowly dragging heavily laden sheets the full distance from almost the edge of Warren Road all the way down to the alder carr at the bottom of the area.

All this made for hot work on a humid day, so the break for refreshments was especially welcome - but what is Andrew doing? Describing a fishing success perhaps?

And here is the obligatory shot of Noel taking his ease. Much garden furniture is going to be chucked out now, to be replaced by comfortably upholstered wheelbarrows in future.

We’ve remarked before on the sartorial elegance of our little group; it’s now extended to gloves.

Along the way, a disused Harvest mouse nest was discovered; a beautiful construction!

By the end of the session we had two heaps:

The winch dump site…

… and the hand-pull dump site isn’t much smaller!!

We left with almost everything cleared, apart from the bit that couldn’t be cut due to Grillo’s infirmity. What a brilliant effort!

Here is the message of thanks from the Team Leaders:

Hello all

This is a very heartfelt thank you to the 14 volunteers today.  We were beset with problems - no trolley to transport the gear to the sites, a wasp nest in the planned dump site. However, you all threw yourself with gusto into the mix of winched sheets and hand pulled sheets.  It was a huge effort from all of you and we are very grateful for your hard work. We got a huge amount of material cleared.  Thank you.

Regards, Julie and Margaret

 

NWT botany expert Aaron has visited Pit Common recently to look at how the wildflower patch he created with us is developing, and the exciting news is that a nationally scarce and ‘near threatened’ plant has grown there. It’s Sulphur Clover (Trifolium ochroleucon).  Aaron was also pleased to find Meadow Vetchling (Lathyrus pratensis), so it’s great evidence that the work at Pit Common is already paying off.

 

Surprisingly, this is not the only blog in town; NWT has one too, part of which is to showcase the work of its volunteers. We were asked if we could contribute an item to it, which we have done; it’s at https://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/news-and-articles/blog/all-blog-posts/volunteer-spotlight-the-southrepps-volunteer-group

Soldiering on with fewer bosses

The good people working for whatever previous incarnation of Natural England it was that set out the management regime for our SSSI when they set it up clearly did not use too much of their imaginations on naming the various sections they broke it up into. The direct result is that today 15 of us convened at the one so thrillingly called Area A; presumably the first one they came to walking up Warren Road.

Area A and indeed the equally imaginatively named Area B are the grassy bits between Warren Road and Fox’s Beck, and are important for the wide range of plant species found there. They are noticeably drier than the sections on the other side of the Beck, although the closer you get to that watercourse the softer the ground gets. They are cut on alternate years, so with B getting the treatment last year, A was in the frame this time round. Two years of un-fettered growth makes for quite a tangle, so as usual a cut was done mid-week so that there would be something for us to work on from the moment we arrived. Here’s what we found.

Team Leaders Margaret and Julie had coordinated time away so that we were left in Kevin’s capable hands. (We suspect the missing bosses had gone off to a luxury spa break.) As always, bosses aside, the most essential people are those who take on the catering, which is why Sheila looks so cheerful.

Your correspondent gamely volunteered to pull the cart bearing the bulk of the day’s tools. The boardwalk is surprisingly uphill for much of its length, or so it seemed.

Not only had the ‘pre-cut crew’ done of spot of mowing earlier, but another visit yesterday to sort out the best location for winching and dumping had soaked up another two and a half hours for a couple of people. At first glance the situation appeared hopeless, but pluck and determination saw them through and an excellent dump site was the result. Winch Captain today was the irrepressible Noel, whose singing as we turn loaded sheets over is always so nostalgic – today it was an Ian Dury medley.

We were impressed by his braces, which can be used as tape measures if the need arises – but with the risk of his trousers descending in an unseemly manner.

Whilst discussing fashion, we must not overlook Carolyn’s confusing shirt: did she wear an NWT one when volunteering in the Galapagos?

Splendid though the dump site already was, the routes through to it from the wide spread of the site made further scrub removal necessary. Step forward the two Andrews, armed with loppers, saws and slashers. They set to with characteristic enthusiasm, and the scrub retreated accordingly. 

There are times when a bit of upper body strength comes in handy for this volunteering lark. Although some would think it’s not necessary in this case, here we see your correspondent being given a workout in a novice’s bodybuilding course. Instructor John had just finished screaming in my face, “Be more Andrew!”

We’ve observed before that these occasions are catalysts for erudite conversations. Today they included the therapeutic benefits of nettles in the treatment of arthritis (not for me, on sober reflection), and the many and varied technicalities involved in saw blades for different purposes.

Such was the fervour with which folk had been working …

…that shortly before the half-time break a traffic jam had built up.

The refreshment break began, and the throng assembled.

And of course, as is his usual practice, Noel took his ease on a handy heap.

Suitably refreshed, the fun continued for a while more, but under Team Leader Kevin’s firm leadership we finished on time, although the mystery of John’s missing gloves remains. The previous session had of course been on the central area (G), but since then more hand cutting of reeds has been carried out in the flower-rich part spared the mower. It’s gratifying to see how many Grass of Parnassus flowers are out, including in the mown parts.

There’s still plenty left to do here, but at the end of the session we could take satisfaction from the amount we’d done.

Here is Team Leader Kevin’s message of thanks:

Dear all

On an overcast morning that turned into a humid one, 15 souls turned out to area A where a tangle of reeds, grasses, bindweed and I’m sure many other species of weeds awaited them. The precut had been carried out by John and Andrew and they had found it tough going. Our new machine “Grillo” had struggled with all the vegetation growth and they had not cut as much as they would normally do. Nevertheless, the volunteers raked and pitchforked the arisings and carried out some tree popping. With both Andrews sawing and lopping, we were soon able to open up a large winching site. This will, hopefully, serve us well in the future.

Thank you to all for today and we look forward to seeing you in two weeks’ time.

Kevin on behalf of the team leaders.