2016 Summary

We started pulling Himalayan Balsam in the last week of May. At this stage some plants were two or three feet tall but the majority were less than a foot. This made pulling a more backbreaking task as well as being less satisfying than pulling out larger plants. However we cleared quite a lot in the field behind St Peter's Church which resulted in far fewer there later in the year.

Throughout the summer we've been going out almost weekly when the weather permitted. We've covered the Frome from the metal footbridge near to Cogmill down to just beyond Nightingale Bridge. In summary:

• from Cogmill down to Mill Lane, the near bank is not heavily infested though there are a few clumps and isolated plants amongst the other growth. The far bank is very bad in places. It's possible to access the upper part of the far bank via the metal footbridge though the water level dropped sufficiently by mid July to make wading across possible.
• the field behind St Peter's Church was not as bad as last year but will need regular visits to get it completely under control.
• Glebelands and Meadow Mead were much better than previous years. Much of the growth there could only be accessed by wading and some was still inaccessible because of deep water.
• the grounds of Bridge House were heavily infested as was the riverbank on the other side.
• below Bridge House the field edge and river bank were quite bad in the first field. The second field was much better than last year.
• the edge of Hilly Fields was very bad as were the paddocks on the other side of Nightingale Bridge.

We finished pulling in the second week of September. Although many plants had ripe seeds by then there were still many which didn't.

In total, local volunteers spent about 100 hours on balsam pulling. This was boosted by other groups organised by AIWF who spent a further 70 hours. Assuming each person pulls 60 balsam per hour, this represents 6,000 balsam by locals plus 4,200 balsam by others. Assuming an average of 400 seeds per plant, we have therefore prevented 2.4 million plus 1.7 million, ie 4.1 million seeds in total, from entering the environment!

One last session

John and I took a walk up to Cogmill, clearing a few stragglers on the way up there. A little before the metal footbridge, there were a couple of clumps on both sides of the river. Some seeds were ripe so we were careful to collect and bag as many as we could. We then moved upstream beyond the metal footbridge clearing and bagging as we went. Apart from one or two deepish spots this stretch was quite easy to wade.

Metal footbridge near Cogmill

Some plants had already shed all their seeds and were starting to die back. Next year, we'll have to try to tackle this area earlier.