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WORK ON THE RESERVE - WORKING PARTIES

We welcome any members who would like to get more involved in practical conservation work. The work parties last about 2½ hours. Please bring wellies/boots and strong gloves also rakes and garden cutters if you can.

Scroll down this page to read some recent work party reports that will give you an idea of what is involved

The following dates are currently planned. These are all Sundays but we are also looking at setting up some midweek dates. See below.

Sunday 4^th August

Sunday 1^st September

Sunday 6^th October

Sunday 3^rd November

Sunday 1^st December

Sunday 5^th January 2014

All start at 10.00am.
Meet by Stocker's House (next to Stocker's Lock) at 9.55 unless otherwise directed. Please phone Sarah Coombs on 01923 779008 to tell her you are coming. This will save her an unnecessary phone call and will be much appreciated.

Weekday Working Parties

We are often asked if there is work to do during the weekdays. Of course there is, but we haven’t had too many work parties. We plan more and so Ian Watson is compiling a list of people with their phone numbers and e-mail addresses who are interested. Let Ian know at 01923 282136 or at jenniwatson@mac.com. Indicate any particular days in the week which are no good for you. Ian will then contact people when weekday work is being organised.

Report on Working Party Sunday 5^rd May

We continued the job of clearing the lake edges in the river meadows. We decided to leave the piles of brash as they are now probably full of little creatures. Perhaps we’ll do it late summer. It’s good to see the geese returning to these meadows. We also began the job of erecting a field gate in the fence dividing the two meadows. Our thanks to Evelyn Fox, Catherine Green, Sheila and Tony Lee, ‘Mitch’, Bill Sylvester, Jack Scrutton, Ian Watson, Jack Westbrook, and a special welcome to new member Julie Steele.

Hedge Laying – Tuesdays 19^th and 26^th March 2013

We’ve now begun layering the hedge that we planted in 2005 with guidance from Rob Hopkins of the Trust. We’ve layered nearly half the hedge along the path leading from the Uxbridge Road river bridge. We’ll do the other half next year. It looks really nice. Apart from Rob, his ‘green team’ of Michael, Steve, and Colin were also there, together with the following FoSL’s: Christine Crowther, Dawn Goodair, Tony Lee, ‘Mitch’ and Ian Watson.

Report on Working Party Sunday 3^rd March

Another fine morning’s work and very well attended so that we accomplished all that we set out to do, namely to plant 251 hedge plants (predominantly hawthorn, but also a few buckthorn, hazel, field maple and spindle) and 30 trees (oak, wild cherry and alder). The hedges were planted in two of the meadows between the river and the lake whilst the trees were planted on the rough ground on the Uxbridge Road side north of the footbridge that crosses the River Colne. In addition we signed up three new members and planted a wild honeysuckle near to Stockers House (for Sally Morgan’s bees).

Those working were Christine Crowther, Evelyn Fox, Dawn Goodair, Catharine Green, Larry Hurst, Paul Knutson, Tony and Sheila Lee, Pete Norris, Mark and Elena Reis, Andy Schofield, Robin and Ann Taylor, Jack Westbrook, Mitch and Ian Watson. Special thanks to Dawn and Pete for staying on an extra hour and a half to plane the trees.

Report on Working Party Sunday 3^rd February

It was cold but dry although the ground was very soggy. Indeed rarely have we seen the reserve so inundated. Our work party soon got cracking and completed the job of clearing the lake edge in the river meadows. To our surprise we were rewarded with the sight of two Canada geese cropping the grass in the area we had cleared 4 weeks earlier. “Mission accomplished!” (See 6^th January 2013 working party report below.) It is a long time since we’ve seen geese on the meadow.

We also made a pile of stakes ready for the hedge laying planned for Thursday 19^th February. (Meet at Stockers House, 9.55am.)

Thanks to our merry workers – Sharon Crouch (a most welcome new member), Christine Crowther, Evelyn Fox, Dawn Goodair, Larry Hurst, Sheila James, Tony and Sheila Lee, Elena Reis, Robin and Ann Taylor, Mitch and Ian Watson.

Report on Working Party Sunday 6^th January

This was a good morning’s work on the lake edge of the meadows between the River Colne and the lake. The task? To continue clearing the lake edge of undergrowth and brambles so as to encourage the Canada geese to come onto the meadows and crop the grass.

We now have three or four piles of natural rubbish which we will deal with over the next month or two. We’ll probably get some useful stakes to use when we lay the hedge that we planted some years ago by the footpath leading from the Uxbridge Road.

Dawn Goodair made a neat pile of logs in a secluded corner of the meadow which may supply a winter home or refuge for insects and small invertebrates.

An exciting discovery was of a water vole – the first we’ve seen on the reserve since the early 1990s. We’ve informed the Wildlife Trust. Let’s hope they’re back for good.

Thanks to our workers – Linda Arledge, Evelyn Fox, Dawn Goodair, Katherine Green, Martin and Sarah Knight, Tony and Sheila Lee, Mark and Elena Reis, Peter Reynoldson, Joseph Rowan, Jack Scrutton, Bill Sylvester, Robin and Ann Taylor, Mitch and Ian Watson.