Burrs, Brambles and Bindweed

Two years ago the field behind St Peter's Church was a sea of pink balsam flowers.

St Peter's Field 2 Years Ago

This year it was mainly confined to the edges, along the river bank or along the churchyard wall. However access to it was hampered by tangles of burrs, brambles and bindweed.

Burrs and bindweed

Using walking sticks and slashers, we cut our way through to the riverbank and cleared all the balsam there apart from some clumps on the opposite bank. Unfortunately, following recent rain it wasn't possible to wade across to reach them.

Having cleared the riverbank we made our way back along the edge by the churchyard where the balsam is growing amongst tangles of brambles. With much cursing we able to cut our way into the brambles and clear most of the balsam though every time we turned around we seemed to spot another one lurking in the undergrowth.

Another visit will probably be necessary to get at some on the opposite bank and further upstream.

Wading up to Black Rocks

After recent rain the water level was a bit high and the river was flowing quite swiftly. Fortunately the river bed upstream is rocky rather than muddy so wading was not too difficult.

Just above the measuring station, there is a lot of balsam on the far side of the river but it is not very accessible. A little further upstream there were scattered plants on the near bank which we cleared before wading across to tackle the opposite bank. Near to the river this is not as bad as last year but it's still bad further away from the river on the field edge.

At Black Rock we cleared a few isolated plants including one giant which had been growing on a fallen tree lying in the water near to the bank and had developed a stem as thick as a man's leg.

We also cleared a specimen which had been standing proud on the far bank for the past couple of weeks.

Last week

Today

We continued upstream as far as the little islands clearing near to the riverbank though not managing to finish everything along the field edge.

Meadow Mead

For some time the large clumps growing on the river bank off Meadow Mead have been seemingly inaccessible from the river bed or the river bank. However with determination and a couple of saws to cut through the blackthorn bushes we were able to get access and completely clear that area. We also cleared a path along the river bank to make access easier in future years.

These photos show the cleared areas which were previously covered in large balsam.

There was a similar nearly inaccessible clump on the community orchard side of the river which can be seen in the background of the following picture and which we also cleared.

To finish off, we cleared all the balsam growing along the top of the river bank off Meadow Mead between Parsonage Bridge and Church Road.

A very satisfying morning's work!

Paddock downstream from Nightingale Bridge

Last year this area had a huge stand of balsam spreading out into the paddock. This year it was noticeably less with a few largish clumps which didn't take too long to clear.

We then climbed through the fence and cleared the riverbank which had some very large plants with stems which were quite woody near the base.

There's a fallen tree in the river which is gathering a lot of rubbish and forming quite a barrier to the river flow.

A stroll up river from Nightingale Bridge (Wed, 12th July)

At Nightingale Bridge there's a bit less than last year.  Between Nightingale Bridge and Bridge House, the field edges are pleasingly clear of balsam apart from a few stragglers along the river bank. There's rather more on the Hilly Fields side of the river.

There were a few stragglers along Glebelands which I cleared. On the Meadow Mead side of the river there are quite a few large plants amongst the trees and along the riverbank, including some with seeds which are nearly ripe and ready to explode.

Meanwhile, in the river there were a number of biggish fish (chub?) which seemed to be particularly active following recent rain.

Behind St Peter's Church, the field is pretty clear though there were a few plants growing along the riverbank. Behind Mill Lane there's also quite a lot growing.

Further upstream approaching Black Rocks, there are pockets of plants, mostly on the far side of the river. This magnificent specimen can be seen at Black Rocks.