6
July 2011
GUIDES
WORK SESSION - report
by Jennifer Rye
We were delighted to
welcome around two dozen guides and their 4 adult
leaders to the Meadow on Wednesday July 6th for an
evening work session as part of their Service to the
community. Ignoring the light rain that was trying to
fall, they got stuck into a variety of jobs: weeding
and watering all the newly planted trees and hedgerows
in the north meadow; creating 3 new meter squares of
bare earth on the south east bund in the south meadow
to encourage solitary bees to nest; a very thorough
liter pick in Palmers Road copse.
When the work was
done, several of them enjoyed a Nature hunt around the
whole meadow. They all seemed to have a thoroughly
good time, and we were delighted to have such helpful
and focussed workers along side. In fact they want to
come again, and even make it a twice yearly fixture,
which would suit us fine.
Sunday
3 July 2011
Work
Session Sunday -
report by Jennifer Rye and photos by Brian
Fellows
7 volunteers turned up
on a sunny morning with Brook Meadow looking at its
best, with tall grasses waving, masses of butterflies
and other insects and lots of people walking through
to enjoy it.
We took the power
sythe to the north meadow and cut most of the
occasional paths with a new one to reach the newly
planted cherries. Girl Guides are expected on
Wednesday working towards their conservation badges.
We plan to set them to work nurturing the new trees.
The sides of the paths were trimmed and the arisings
taken to the dumping site. Some paths on the south
meadow were given similar treatment to make them
easier to walk along on wet and dewy days.
After welcome
refreshments taken in the shade (thanks to Pam) we cut
a straight path into the Seagull Lane patch to enable
our wildlife recorders access. The new hedgerows were
also given some care and attention. We knocked off
early in deference to the heat. An organised party of
cyclists going along the causeway were reminded that
it was a permissive path only and asked to wheel their
bikes.
Sunday
5 June 2011
WORK
SESSION - Report
by Frances Jannaway and photos by Brian
Fellows
A rather overcast and
windy morning greeted the 8 volunteers who turned up
for the first work session in June.
Despite the relatively
low number of volunteers, we managed to carry out a
large number of tasks. The first task was to cut back
stinging nettles and brambles overhanging the
riverside path in Palmers Road copse as well as do a
litterpick in this area. Another task which badly
needed doing was to clean the window of the Watervole
signcase which had become virtually unreadable because
of all the sticky 'droppings' from the nearby Sycamore
tree. All the other signcases were given a clean as
well.
Brambles and nettles
were also cut back from the paths in the South Meadow
and all the paths were cut with the power scythe. The
windy, dry weather had caused the large Butterbur
leaves to wilt and droop over the raised path at the
Lumely entrance and also near the central seat. These
large leaves were cut back to make access along these
paths easier.
After welcome
refreshment provided as usual by Pam, the team
proceeded to tackle the recently created western path
in the North Meadow. First of all, the power scythe
was used to widen the path which goes behind the
wishing tree and then a wider arc was cut to reach the
recently planted Wild Cherry trees on the western edge
of the meadow. The trees were released from the
undergrowth of mainly stinging nettles and watered.
The remaining Wild Cherries planted in the northern
part of the Meadow were also given a bit of tlc.
Unfortunately, this was a bit late for one, which was
dead. All arisings were raked and removed to nearby
dumps. Finally, Brambles and Stinging Nettles
overhanging the main riverbank paths as well as the
extreme NE corner of the Meadow were cut back. Many
thanks to all the volunteers who worked so hard today.
HAVANT
GOES GREENER FAIR - 28 May
2011 - Report
by Frances Jannaway
Despite a bit of a
difficult start and a cold SW wind, I think it was a
very good day.
There was a lot of
interest in the displays and information. In addition,
Rachel (BTCV) provided badge making, second hand
nature books for sale and feely boxes. BMCG provided
the wishing tree and making bird boxes (materials and
tools kindly provided by Pete Hodges) as well as FSC
ID guides for sale (selling 12 including my stock of
bees id guides to the local bee keepers).
Many thanks to Rachel,
John Bond, Colin, Jim and Richard for helping to set
up under very difficult windy conditions and to doing
a stint on the combined stall.
Thanks also to Pete
Burton and his wife Carol (HITW) for manning the TW
section and to John Sawtell for help with Havant
Conservation Forum. John can you pass on my thanks to
Mick Mills for helping later on in the afternoon as I
don't have his email address. Thanks also to Ann Jolly
and Brian Fellows for helping out. Brian can you let
me have the photos you took please?
Special thanks to Jill
Meeson for manning the wishing tree section all day -
it was well worth doing as there were not many
activities for children at the event. It was a pity we
had to take down all the butterflies and stars
decorating the Horse Chestnut tree. Jill commented
that a lot of the children were quite young and so
were unable to write a wish. A number of older
children wrote wishes including: more butterflies in
gardens, stop animals from becoming extinct, and
people should never cut down trees. There needs to be
more people who care about the world, more flowers,
more bird sanctuaries for protected birds and people
should pick up litter. Oh and no one should ever
smoke! There were about 40 children and a few adults
who hung a wish on the tree.
Making bird boxes got
off to a slow start but by the end of the afternoon,
Jim and Richard had made (and helped make) 9 bird
boxes but we did not think they were going to stop
when everybody else wanted to pack up!
Donations to the joint
stall have enabled me to pay the Emsworth Community
Association for hiring 4 tables and pay towards the
costs of having two stall spaces.
Thanks to Jim,
Richard, Mick and especially John Bond for coming back
at the end of the day to help us pack up.
A very good community
effort with a number of conservation groups coming
together to pool resources.
Photos by Brian
Fellows
Work
Session - Thursday 19
May - report
by Wally Osborne
A perfect spring
morning brought out 12 volunteers and on this
occasion, we were joined by Rachel Moroney of BTCV, to
make the annual inspection of our risk assessment and
health & safety procedures and briefing'
processes. Rachel was satisfied and our public
liability insurance will now be paid by HBC.
The primary task was
to remove the brushwood barriers & hazard tape
erected around the North Meadow 'wildflower area'
before the spring growth began. This tactic has been
successful in discouraging random paths being made by
visitors across this most important area. It was
decided that the time was right to remove the various
branches & logs so that later grass cutting would
not be compromised. A few small new barriers were made
at the main path edges and all four information
notices were renewed and/or replaced (a few days
later). The brushwood barriers will no doubt need
replenishing and rebuilding over the course of the
summer.
We then split into
smaller teams who proceeded to carry out the following
tasks: 'Weeded' the new hedgerow plants along the
western boundary of the Seagull Lane patch. It was
noted that very few of the saplings had died which is
very good out of a total of the more than 200 planted.
Removed the flower heads from many Hemlock
Water-dropwort plants in the Central Meadow in the
Lumley wet area and from the edge of the path to the
west. Finally, litter picked Palmers Road copse and
the River Ems.
All of these important
tasks were successfully completed and at the halfway
stage, Pam Phillips provided us all with tea, coffee
and biscuits. Thanks to all for your dedication and
energy.
Forthcoming work
sessions: Sunday 5 & Thursday 16
June.
Photos by Brian
Fellows
Work
Session - Thursday 21 April 2011
Ten volunteers
gathered on a lovely, warm, spring day with a pleasant
breeze.
The first task was to
use the power scythe to cut the western edge of the
'bramble path' in the South Meadow, avoiding plants of
interest such the Cuckoo Flowers which had recently
come into bloom, and then rake it clear. A team of
three cleared rubbish and low branches from the Ems,
starting just south of the South bridge and eventually
reaching the sluice upstream. Their 'prize find' was
an enamelled chamber pot sans derriere! Some of the
Willow branches were used to block the adventitious
paths over the bramble bank.
The 'cut and rake'
team moved on to remove early luxuriant growth of
Goosegrass and nettles from a lower section of the
South Meadow.
Having enjoyed Pam's
refreshments by the central seat, the teams resumed
their earlier tasks. The 'cut and rake' team finally
cut and cleared an extra path to the west side of the
North Meadow, to encourage an alternative route as in
2010, before stumps were drawn in time for the Easter
weekend.
Photos
by Brian Fellows
Hey,
ho, hey, ho and off to work we go
Clearing
the bramble path
. . .
but raking up is hard work!
Work
Session - Sunday 3 April 2011
- Photo by
Brian fellows
Twelve volunteers
turned up for the first work session in April. It was
cloudy at first but the sun came out later.
Unfortunately, we were unable to use the power scythe
as planned as the cutting blades had seized up over
the winter period. Mike will give the machine a
service hopefully in time for the next work
session.
This was perhaps
fortuitous as a more urgent task was flagged up by
several of the volunteers. This was to restrict access
to the central wildflower area in the North Meadow.
Over the winter period, footfall had not been
restricted to the paths. This area has vulnerable
wildflowers, such as 4 types of Orchid as well as
Yellow Rattle. A dead hedge was created around the
whole area using branches and brushwood, finishing off
with a length of red and white hazard tape. Later the
same day, I returned with 4 notices explaining why
access to this area was being restricted.
Meanwhile another
group of volunteers tidied up debris in the river
especially along the northern section where a raft had
been made some days earlier. In addition, a 'tree
house' was dismantled near the north bridge. The den
included a fitted carpet nailed onto pallets and a
seat taken from an old office chair. It is a shame to
have to remove the den as the young people who
constructed it had obviously put a lot of effort into
it but Brook Meadow is first and foremost a Nature
Reserve and is too small to be able to support this
kind of activity. More below.
Another task was to
cut back Brambles encroaching over the paths in the
North Meadow and add to the dead hedge to block access
to Gooseberry Cottage from Brook Meadow.
Finally, new notices
were put on the 3 notice boards explaining what
practical work is going on in Brook Meadow as well as
renewing the dedicated Water Vole notice near the
sluice.
As always thanks to
Pam for providing much needed refreshments. Many
thanks to all the volunteers for their enthusiasm and
hard work.
Orchid
protection
The main job was to
create a barrier around the orchid area on the north
meadow, which has been invaded over the past few
months by people exercising their dogs. Leaves of both
Common Spotted Orchid and Southern Marsh Orchid are
already showing and Pyramidal and Bee Orchids will
soon follow and these delicate plants clearly need
protection.
A dead
hedge barrier was created around the area using fallen
branches
This
photo shows the extent of the protection area on the
north meadow surrounded by red tape
Bee
Fly
Before the work
session began Dave Lee showed us a Bee Fly (Bombylius
major) that he had captured in a jam jar. It is so
called for its furry appearance and is common around
flowers in spring, sucking nectar through its long and
rather fearsome looking proboscis. But it is quite
harmless. Dave released it near the Butterbur flowers
on the causeway.
Work
session - Sunday 6 March
2011 - Report
by Jennifer Rye
A chilly wind did
nothing to put off our volunteers, and 14 of us,
including one new volunteer, achieved a good deal.
First tasks were to tidy up the tree plantation by the
Seagull Lane gate; cut down (and in some cases pull
up, so soft was the soil) another clump of brambles
straying on to the north meadow; and prune the young
self-sown Ash trees by the seat on the central
causeway, using the trimmings to block up some paths
leading on to the meadow and reinforce the hurdles
along the riverbank.
The sun came out to
warm us while we took our coffee break by the north
bridge (thanks Pam). Some hardy volunteers braved the
strongly flowing Ems to tidy up a blockage/dam which
was obstructing the flow of water, and later disposed
of the fence posts, branches and car tyre which had
accumulated there.
Tree planting after
coffee, saw some flowering cherries put in by the
raised path on the North Meadow and by the bramble
border on the north-eastern side. Ten more rowans were
added to the existing rowan plantation behind the
seat. Conditions were ideal for planting with nice
damp soil, and we watered everything in well with
river water, as well as staking and protecting the
young whips with tree spirals.
While carrying out the
tree planting, it was noticed that the bark of one of
the existing Rowans had been damaged. Volunteers put a
tree guard round the damaged area to protect the tree
from further attack. See
below for more details of Rowan damage.
Photos by
Brian Fellows
Roe
Deer damage to Rowan
Ralph Hollins is
fairly sure that the damage to the bark of the Rowan
tree in Brook Meadow discovered on Mar 6, was in fact
the work of a Roe buck deer 'fraying' the tree to
clean the 'velvet' off its antlers and not due to a
Grey Squirrel, as we at first thought. The damage was
too low down on the trunk for a Squirrel. Roe deer
have been seen on Brook Meadow in the past, though
not, as far as I am aware, for several years. However,
Ralph indicates that Roe are increasing in numbers
locally and spreading to new sites. He has seen at
least ten on Southleigh Farm fields on the northern
border of Emsworth over recent years. Has anyone seen
one in Emsworth recently?
Pollution
in the River Ems
It was also noticed
that some white precipitate was escaping into the
River Ems from the pipe just below the north bridge.
This was presumably coming from the anodising factory
in Seagull Lane where a white residue could be seen
running down the lane. I believe the factory owners
have been previously warned about allowing this
pollution to get into the river.
The
precipitate running into the river by the north
bridge
Precipitate
running down Seagull lane from the anodising
factory
Work
session - Thursday 17 February
2011 - report
by Wally Osborne
A rather murky morning
brought out 10 volunteers, plus Brian Fellows with his
trusty camera also on hand. The primary task for the
day was to litterpick Palmers Road Copse, which was in
a dreadful state, together with the footpaths leading
towards Peter Pond and the A259 underpass.
Additionally, some dumped timber debris was shifted
from the Seagull Lane patch and the remainder of the
meadow was litter picked. An amazing stack of Litter
was collected, including a pair of good heavy boots
which Jennifer will dry off and pass on to a worthy
cause. This task occupied all of us for about an
hour.
After a well deserved
coffee / tea break provided by Pam, we set about the
second task which was to 'block off' the unauthorised
track out of Gooseberry Cottage grounds onto the South
Meadow. This was accomplished by creating a 'prickly'
dead hedge up on top of the bramble bank, using
prunings from some nearby Crack Willow trees and also
Brambles collected near the south gate and by clearing
around the Alder Buckthorn plantation on the central
bund. The overall effect looked quite formidable but
we remain unsure whether it will stand for very long,
given the persistence of the teenage boy thought to be
responsible.
Many thanks to all of
the volunteers who did such a great job and also
generated some personal warmth. On the next workday
which is scheduled for Sunday 6th March, we will
probably continue our work clearing the various
ravages of winter and possibly also plant a few tree
saplings round the edges of the grassland.
Photos by
Brian Fellows
The
merry band all prepared for a work session on the
meadow
Pam
and Jenny keeping the car park tidy
There
was lots of litter to collect this morning
What's
in the bottle, Tony. A dead frog?
and
three Wood Pigeons looking out for Water Voles from
the observation fence?
Work
session - Sunday 6 February
2011 - report
by Mike
Ten volunteers
gathered under overcast skies and in windy conditions.
Mike welcomed a visitor, Nina Sperinck from BTCV (SE
England Community Project Officer), who had travelled
all the way from Banbury to see the Group at work; to
introduce the 'Wellbeing Comes Naturally' scheme which
will assist people with mental health problems through
their participation in outdoor community tasks; and to
answer any questions members might have. Nina
participated fully in the morning's tasks.
The first task was to
spread the wood chips arising from recent tree work in
Palmers Road copse along the main path there which had
been made even muddier by the tree surgeons. This was
completed to a high standard by tea break using three
wheelbarrows and teams of rakers and barrow fillers. A
large estate agents' sign was also removed from the
sluice area to the car park bins for
collection.
The group then enjoyed
Pam's refreshments at the central seat before moving
to the top of the North Meadow to trim the edge of the
large bramble patch and use the trimmings to block
adventitious paths down from the causeway. This
provoked some discussion and it was noted that in
general bramble provided a valuable habitat on the
Meadow. A couple of fresh surveying posts were found
in the ground in this area.
Pat completed a litter
pick of Palmers Road copse and 'time' was called on
the morning's tasks. However, Tony B had noticed a
small, dead Willow leaning precariously near the south
bridge and so with the help of his ropes he and Mike
safely removed it in a successful finale to an
enjoyable session.
Photos by
Brian Fellows
Volunteers
collecting wood chippings from the tree cutting in
Palmer's Road Copse
Debi
arrives with a barrow full of chippings for Patrick,
Pat and Nina (from BTCV)
They
get to work spreading the chippings as Richard comes
with a fresh load
Volunteers
cutting back some of the Brambles on the north meadow
