Meadow Mead June 2023

Although there wasn’t a great deal of balsam immediately visible we decided to have a look in the undergrowth on the riverbank along Meadow Mead. The corner near Parsonage Bridge is normally quite bad but only had a few dozen plants scattered amongst the nettles. At the grassy area in the middle, there were very few plants.

We cut some paths into the undergrowth towards Church Road bridge. Again we only found a few dozen balsam along the banks.

We finished by heading back along Glebelands. Frampton Nature Group had cleared balsam along here just over a week ago but we managed to find and clear a few more among the nettles.

 

Survey 2023

Late April/early May was quite cool and wet with high water levels which seems to have killed off some early seedlings of Himalayan Balsam.

Spring blossom and high water levels at Meadow Mead 

Seedlings in mid April

Casual observation during May along the Frome suggested that balsam was not reappearing in large quantities and this was borne out by my survey on 2 June. Although a few plants were visible at various places from Nightingale’s Bridge to Cogmill there were no very big clumps obviously visible. Even at the corner of Hilly Fields which normally has a lot of balsam there was little sign of it among the nettles.

At Black Rocks there’s a freshly fallen branch which makes access to balsam along the river edge more difficult. Upstream from Black Rocks, there seems to be a number of balsam growing on the far bank.

Meadow Mead revisited

It was forecast to be a very hot day so we met a little earlier at 9:00 at Meadow Mead. Fortunately it stayed cloudy which kept the temperature at a relatively comfortable level. A group of 7 volunteers turned at Meadow Mead which helped to cover a large area of the river between Parsonage and Church Road bridges.  Our main objective was to clear some large clumps in areas difficult to access because they were low down on the river bank and only accessible through dense undergrowth. However we managed to cut a way through and to scramble down the riverbank to clear them.

We also cleared more plants low down on the riverbank which were not immediately visible from the path and a few stragglers in areas we’d previously cleared.

July survey

 I went for a stroll from Nightingale’s Bridge to Cogmill to assess the balsam situation after our activities in June. On the mud banks at the bridge there were a few balsam which I cleared but upstream there were some large clumps on the riverbanks and low down near the river which were difficult to access without waders or slashers.

Along Glebelands there were a few plants some of which I was able to clear from amongst the nettles. There were some large clumps on the other side of the river which we’d previously not been able to access but may be possible with the river level as low as it is currently.

Further upstream, there were a few plants at Black Rocks and I think I could see a few further upstream on the far bank and the little islands.

Large clumps of balsam always grow by the Church Road bridge and scattered throughout the undergrowth on the Meadow Mead side of the river opposite the community orchard. When river levels are low, these areas can be reached from the river bed though care must be taken to avoid deep spots and the bank can be a bit tricky to climb in places. It’s also possible to cut a way down from Meadow Mead though fallen branches and occasionally dumped garden waste can make it hard work. Despite these challenges, on a very warm Midsummer’s Day we cleared the riverbanks by the community orchard then returned to wade up the river to access the big clump by the bridge. The balsam was fairly tall and a few flowers were starting to appear.

Looking downriver from the bridge

Balsam cleared by Church Road bridge 

Nightingale’s Bridge and Hilly Fields

We met at Nightingale’s Bridge where balsam could be seen growing on the mud banks on both sides of the river and on the bank just upstream from the bridge.  The water level was low so it was easy to cross the river to reach a large clump on the east bank where access has been made more difficult by a new barbed wire fence.

The edges of Hilly Fields remain mostly clear of balsam after we cleared it a few years ago so we  crossed to the far corner where we always find balsam. It was not as bad as the first time we visited this area but there was still a lot of tall balsam growing amongst dense nettles. 

On the way back to the bridge we stopped at a place where we’d seen a few balsam growing on the river bank behind the fence. As usual there turned out to be a lot more when we looked more closely so we finished our morning session by clearing those. 

Black Rocks and beyond - June 7th

A group of five volunteers walked upstream from St Peter’s Church to Black Rocks where the few scattered plants seen a couple of weeks ago were revealed to be accompanied by many more hidden in the undergrowth and along the riverbank. Fortunately the river level was low so we were able to reach most of them with a bit of wading and a bit of scrambling over and under fallen branches.   

After clearing this area, we continued upstream toward the little islands in the river, clearing a few small plants on the near bank and some larger ones across the river on the way.  The islands themselves were very overgrown with a variety of plants including balsam and there were some dams created by fallen trees which had also become home for balsam. We were able to clear the majority of these.

Water crowsfoot growing in the river at Black Rocks