Field behind St Peter's Church

Last year the field behind St Peter's Church was relatively clear of balsam so we didn't bother clearing it. In retrospect this might have been a mistake as this year it was quite badly infested again. The area near the gate was worst and there were a couple of clumps near to the churchyard but the far end of the field was reasonably clear apart from some large plants low down on the river bank.

Before clearing

Since it was quite late in the season we just went in with slashers and cut the balsam down rather than pulling it up.

Although some seed pods were popping, we didn't see any which had fully ripened so hopefully we'll have done enough to reduce the level of infestation again.

After clearing

Iron Acton 2019

Despite recent rain, the river at Iron Acton was only a little higher than usual at this time of year.

I joined a group of volunteers from Iron Acton and we worked our way upstream from the bridge at Frampton End Road. There was a scattering of balsam all the way along and some big patches on the field edge on the opposite bank.

Dog walkers also told us of some big patches further upstream but unfortunately it started to rain fairly heavily so we decided to call a premature halt. However we managed to clear a good stretch before we finished.