Park Row property

During last week's session Andrew discovered balsam growing in the grounds of one of the houses along Park Row. Having obtained permission from the owner we returned this week to clear it.

It was a very hot day but fortunately there was only one large clump of balsam plus a few patches hiding amongst the nettles. With the help of a local youngster volunteering as part of his Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, we were able to clear it all fairly quickly.

Bridge House to Nightingale's Bridge

We were pleased to find that there weren't many plants growing along the banks at Bridge House and someone had already chopped down some of the undergrowth at the far end of the grounds. This only left a few dozen plants which needed to be cleared near to river bank.

Further downstream, we found a few plants amongst the nettles and again at Nightingale Bridge there were a few more. We did see a couple of big clumps on the other side of the river which we'll need to revisit on another occasion.

Meanwhile Andrew had found a large patch in the grounds of one of the houses on Park Row and did his best to clear them single-handedly.

Nightingale's Bridge

Upstream survey.

Last week we had a look at the field behind St Peter's Church. There were a few plants growing but no large clumps apart from one near to Church Road on the opposite bank of the river. There were also a few visible behind the houses on Mill Lane.

Today, Monday, I took a stroll upstream. I cut an access path (Start of path) through the undergrowth down to the river downstream of Black Rocks. In previous years this area has had quite a lot of balsam scattered amongst the undergrowth. This year I saw only a few plants. The opposite bank did have a few and there seemed to be more on the field edge behind.

I then walked upstream and waded across to the group of little islands upstream of Black Rocks. Two years ago when we first cleared the area it was densely colonised by balsam. Last year were fewer, and this year there were just a few isolated plants. However the field edge on the opposite bank was still bad, acting as a reservoir for recolonisation.

Meadow Mead and Glebeland 2018

After a late start to the season, balsam is now four to five feet tall in places. We cleared a couple of large clumps off Meadow Mead before moving to the other side of the river to clear a large clump by the Community Orchard. We also found scattered plants at various places along the river bank, some only reachable from river level.

Spring 2018

In 2017, balsam was already a few inches high by mid April.  Spring this year has been quite cool and balsam growth is probably about three weeks behind compared to last year.

On a very warm Bank Holiday Monday, we walked up from Nightingale's Bridge to Cogmill and saw very little sign of balsam. Whether this is due to our efforts in previous years or to the late spring remains to be seen. There is one large clump on the river bank by the community orchard and quite a few by the grassy area off  Meadow Mead. However, the plants are still only a few inches high so it's too early to try to clear them.

By the Community Orchard

On the positive side, there's a wide variety of native wild flowers trying to compete with the balsam.

Summary 2017

Our first session was in mid-May at which time balsam was already growing quite strongly. I'd guess that it was a couple of weeks ahead compared to 2016. A dry Spring resulted in low river levels so we were able to wade safely from the start of the season. Although weather in July and August was much wetter, we managed to get out most weeks while avoiding the rain.

This year we reached new areas in difficult to access places along Glebeland, above the measuring station weir behind Mill Lane and on the river bank opposite Bridge House. Areas previously cleared were generally better than last year though balsam is yet not completely eradicated.

We spent 90 hours of volunteer effort this year, slightly less than last year though we were able to cover a bigger area. We didn't make use of any external volunteer groups as there weren't many areas where balsam was so dense it needed a concerted effort from a large group of people. We did get help from Neil of AIWF and Claire from BART which was much appreciated.

We also did a litter clear removing a large amount of rubbish from the river.

Mill Lane to Cogmill

On a hot and humid afternoon it was nice to get down into the cool and shade of the river behind the houses along Mill Lane. There were some tall plants on the river bank by the footbridge which we quickly cleared before making our way up to the measuring station weir, clearing balsam on both sides as we went.

Behind Mill Lane

Approaching the weir

While Neil and John M were able to find a way over the weir, John L and I went round on the bank, before reconvening and clearing lots of balsam on the way up to Blacks Rocks. We then carried on to the little islands further upstream. These were relatively clear compared to previous years so after clearing any remaining balsam we decided to push on to Cogmill.

Balsam on the way up to Cogmill

There were some big clumps mostly on the side opposite the Frome Valley Walkway but we were able to clear these before getting out at the metal footbridge and making our way back after a very satisfying afternoon.

A job well done!