This was a busy month. Our main work on the 7th July was to take the ESCC tractor up to the canoeists access point on North Bank. The entrance of compartment C14 has a small grassy area that we cut, plus we cut a path at the boundary hedge area which had become overgrown with bramble so we could maintain access to the hedge.
We then continued and cleared the access path right through to C12 and the meadows. This path cutting was not straight forward as several large trees were down along the route blocking the path, these all had to be cleared with a chain saw and hand tools to make the path sufficiently clear to get the tractor to the site.
Once at the C13 meadow with the Sand Martin bank box, all the bracken to the east end was cut, plus all the other bracken/ bramble areas were also strategically cut but leaving some areas uncut that had good flora. Also, no cutting was carried out along the water edge where we are encouraging marsh plants, only hand removing some unwanted Willow saplings.
A further meadow to the West in C12 not visible from the car park was also cut. This meadow had been neglected and been taken over by bracken. It is an area that we are now trying to improve by cutting to control the bracken and improve the habitat for flora and wildlife generally.
Pic – Bracken area at C13 meadow at east end after the first few cuts were taken to get a perimeter path.
Pic after most of the machine cuttable bracken areas were cut at Eastern end of C13 meadow.
Pic above is the west side of C13 meadow looking East showing some of the cut and uncut areas.
Plus we retained some stands of bramble and the odd tree for nesting birds etc.
Pic is of the C12 compartment meadow looking east, after the tractor had cut all the areas it could safely access.
On the 14th July we carried on with more grass cutting of meadows, this time on the dam end side of South Bank beyond Admirals Wood in compartment C30 where we have two meadows.
Pic to left is of the west side meadow showing flora we retained at reservoir edge
This meadow still has some bramble problems to control, but the flora is improving to the point that this year we have only cut selected areas of the meadow to allow the flowers to seed and spread.
Pic on left showing a large stand of Meadowsweet plus a sprinkling of some other meadow flowers which we left untouched.
Pic on left is looking away from the Meadowsweet stand towards the other meadow which is beyond the trees in the background.
This east side meadow has a bracken problem and is totally bracken dominated.
Pic to left shows a major part of the bracken meadow after it was machine cut.
There is some flora nearer the water edge.
On the 14th July we also carried out path cutting on the path beyond the C30 meadows where we cleared overhanging tree branches and cut through bracken and bramble areas by hand to maintain a footpath to allow maintenance access and surveys, reaching the start of compartment C28 as being a suitable stopping point.
Nb. We completed clearing the path later in the month (See 28th July work).
On the 21st July we found that strong winds through the week had blown down several trees around the West End Nature Reserve & Whillet’s meadows including some work around the reedbed.
In particular this tree near the hide had caused us concern as it had a partly fallen branch and had weakened/damaged branches in the upper canopy. These were now considered to be a potential danger to both the hide and the public.
We tidied up some of the fallen branches so the access gate could be opened but we left alone any structural elements of the tree to keep it as safe as possible.
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We were advised it would need tree surgeons to carry out the work with specialist equipment to remove the damaged and weakened areas safely. This was beyond our remit.
We therefore advised Southern Water of this notable public safety hazard problem and to their credit on the 29th July their specialist tree contractors visited the site with specialist machinery and carried out total removal of the tree which they confirmed was dangerous.
Other work covered on the 21st July
We noted a damaged and dead hawthorn tree next to the footpath leading to the hide which was becoming a hazard and this was cleared whilst we were working in the area.
Over at Whillet’s in the 3rd meadow we cleared the access path through to the old Otter holt, and then cleared some Himalayan Balsam that we found was growing near the river bank in this area.
Over at the glade area a tree was down. (See below)
Volunteers carrying out work clearing some of the broken/split tree at the back of the glade in the 3rd meadow of Whillet’s C11
A fallen tree alongside the footpath to the reedbed viewing platform was cut and stacked by volunteers, the final clearance work now just awaiting completion by our Rangers with their chain saws.
Pic on left is view from reedbed viewing platform after raising canopy on Willow at left hand side. We also removed Willow saplings at left side where we have a stand of Hemp Agrimony growing which is very attractive to butterflies and quite rare within the reserve.
We also cut an access path through the reeds so we could reach the path that leads to an open area where we can access the reedbed Island which we maintain when water levels allow.
Work on the 28th July – We were back again mowing meadows, this time on the South Bank but nearer the dam end to cut the meadows that are behind the Reedbed within compartment C27 where there are several meadow glade areas among some oak trees. This time we were accessing from along the path past the sailing club building.
Pic showing line of the reeds with Purple Loosestrife in flower.
Pic shows part of the central meadow after cutting.
The east meadow which was also cut is smaller and beyond the back line of oak trees.
Reservoir and reed-bed are to the left of the picture.
Pic shows part of the west meadow after cutting..
The cages at water edge were originally put in to house the reeds, but that planting failed. Now that reeds are spreading from further along the reedbed we decided to clear the overhanging willow in this area to give more light for marsh plant growth and eventual reed planting.
Finally we carried out path clearing from the reedbed area in compartment C27. We hand cut a trail for the tractor to follow, and were able to machine cut a wide path as far as compartment C28 where the terrain was unsuitable for the tractor to go any further.
We then hand cleared the path through C28 up to the start of C29 which is where we managed to reach on the 14th July coming the other way.
This meant the whole of the South Bank was now fully navigable on foot for access and surveys.
If we did not carry this out periodically the scrub would become impenetrable and the access lost..
Some parts of the reservoir’s North Bank are now only reachable by boat.
Pic – showing the path that we cut through one of the bracken areas. As we approached the end of compartment C27.
Final pic is of the contractors completed work of removing the dangerous tree on the 29th July.
The picture above showing just the stump that is left.
This work not only made the area safe, it should also improve the wildlife viewing particularly for fly over birds and passing raptors now we are not losing birds behind the tree that so many have complained about in the past.