Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun
Keats “To Autumn”
This is the season we are now in and after the long, hot dry summer we have been able to get started on some much needed work on the meadows.
Tudor Ditch Clearing
One of the first tasks for us to tackle was the abundant vegetation from the bottom and one side of the Tudor Ditch. The Ditch gets most of its water from the Pengilly Road area surface drain run off. When the weather has been dry and hot like much of this year, it's no wonder that when the rains do come, the vegetation jumps with joy and gets growing!
We are very grateful to have two new local volunteers who are giving their Tuesday mornings and every other Friday to clear the ditch and you may have seen their progress when visiting the meadows. You can see from the images below how the work they are carrying out is making a significant difference and the ditches are able to fulfil their function once more.
Some additional photos were taken of the ditch this weekend after the recent heavy rainfall. The ditches quickly filed with water as seen below.
The two volunteers have been working at 6 yards per hour, this is going to take more than three weeks to clear the Ditch but with more help the work will speed up. This is where we hope that those of you who are able may want to lend a hand and get stuck in! Tuesday morning is to become a regular volunteer day and if you would like to join in please email info@bishopsmeadowtrust.com for further details.
We realise that Tuesdays won’t suit everybody who wants to help so please email us if you would like to come on a weekend or on an alternative day and we can see if we can accommodate that as well.
This video captures the ditch in November, after recent rains and the ditches are able to fulfil their function once more.
Tree Work
The Trust was aware that the branches of the Poplars overlooking the gardens of Ferns Mead were very long and tall so could break away as has happened just the other side of the Hawthorn and Ivy arch. So with the agreement of the owners the Poplars were taken down, and just in time as it turns out as the largest and biggest one was so rotten that our tree surgeons were surprised it had not gone before and with the prevailing winds from the west would have done serious damage. The remaining trunk has been left for inspection and for the local wild life and children to use.
Sadly a Lime had to come down too because when the started work on pollarding it they deemed the trunk to be unsafe. But this will now give the Hawthorns more space to come on more strongly and we will be planting other Rowans and Crab Apples to cover the fence that is now more on show.
On the other side of West Meadow, the cattle field, the multi-trunked Ash was also taken down. Over past few years a number of it’s trunks have come down and have caused damage to the fences and with the weather jumping from very wet to very dry it was deemed a good time to mitigate the possibility of any danger to the public as one trunk overhung the kissing gate area and the fences.
During the autumn and into the spring the Trust aims to plant a lot more young trees to increase the depth of the present hedges going across the meadows and on the river banks. This should result in more wildlife corridors for the local population of animals.
Volunteering Opportunities
We have lots more volunteering opportunities coming up before the year draws to an end. Later in the year we have willow branches to cut down and replant near the bank of the river. We also want to increase the width of the already planted hedges by added in layers of native hedging of Hawthorn mixed in with dog roses to add colour. The plug planting earlier this year has seen some success despite the intense hot weather we saw in the summer, and those plants that survived are coming on well.
We hope that those of you who use the Meadows regularly may fancy joining one of our working parties soon - the Meadows needs you! Thank you for your continued support and we hope to go into the New Year with this protected area of Farnham having received some care and attention.
We will keep you updated on the progress on the projects and please email us at info@bishopsmeadowtrust.com if you would like to join in!
