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2024
After the flood
1st December
Storm Bert last weekend caused the River Avon to overtop its banks, flooding about a third of our meadow, as well as substantial flooding of local fields, parkland, roads, roundabouts and some businesses and residences in the town. Apparently, this was the greatest extent since 1968. It even shifted our two log seats, luckily not as far as being floated off down river! By Tuesday the waters had mostly subsided without any other obvious damage to the meadow, but sadly some of the townsfolk were having to deal with much worse.
Nine of us gathered as clouds moved away and the sun came out on a mild morning. The noisiest job was brushcutting the vegetation beside the native hedge so that the snowdrops and stitchwort can pop-up and flower there during the winter. There was the hard work of raking up those trimmings and removing them to the compost heaps. Then the remaining foxgloves were planted at the base of the hedgerow.
Several people continued with cutting down this winter's section of the bramble and nettle belt. We tried scything some experimental patches of grass in the meadow but it proved too wet and floppy to cut. Then a spot of hedge trimming and a litter pick but there was not much rubbish as most of it had probably been carried off by the river.
Dull weather but a variety of tasks
3rd November
Nearly a dozen of us made good progress in the meadow this morning. We split into three groups: one to plant out some biennials around the edges - there were foxgloves, evening primroses and teasels that needed re-housing from a vegetable garden and hopefully they will flower next summer or the summer after.
A second group started the winter project to reduce a large section of the bramble scrub, cutting out old, dead stems - to encourage young growth which should bear fruit in a couple of years.
Another group did some maintenance on our native hedge - cutting out and removing dead wood, coppicing some of the larger stems and laying thinner pieces so that the hedge becomes denser and more light reaches down into it.
All these tasks were undertaken to provide more diversity in the area for invertebrates, birds etc. to thrive.
We were pleased to see that a litter-pick did not yield very much rubbish.
More clearing up in the autumn
6th October
Nine of us there today with rain showers threatened. Some raked up grass and nettles cut earlier in the week from various patches around the meadow, some removed brambles festooning the copse, another mowed all the paths and others checked how the new saplings were doing and removed the weeds around them. And the rain held off for the morning!
Cutting and clearing in various parts of the meadow
1st September
There was a large limb of a sycamore tree that had fallen from the old hedgerow onto our native hedge, blocking the adjacent path, so we had to cut that up with saws and loppers to convert it into a habitat pile.
The brambles and scrub at the far end of the meadow were brushcut again to stop them invading the meadow. Overhanging branches and brambles were trimmed from various parts of the area.
The patches of meadow that we are experimenting with by keeping them well cut were strimmed and all the paths were mowed to encourage visitors to stick to them.
Lastly a bag was filled with litter, including a used nappy - how can some people be so thoughtless and inconsiderate?
Bat & Moth evening event
30th August
The annual Bat & Moth evening was a success, attended by about two dozen people including several young children. We gathered on the grass opposite the meadow as dusk fell and the bats were flitting about above us. The weather was ideal as it was a warm, fine evening after a similarly pleasant day.
Michael started by talking about moths and how he had caught some the previous evening in his garden nearby. He had placed them in small clear, labelled containers which were passed around for the contents to be admired and then set free. He also demonstrated his moth trap with its bright light to attract insects and the egg boxes below under which they hide.
Paul chatted about the bats that use the area of trees and the river for feeding and how the sounds they use to locate their insect prey are converted in the bat detectors so that we can hear them as a series of clicks. He handed out the detectors for people to walk about the open space and onto the footbridge above the river while listening out for the various clicks.
Early hay cut this year
4th August
The farmer, who cuts the meadow once a year for us, has already made hay while the sun shone! It is usually done in September but grass seems to have grown vigorously everywhere this year.
This meant that the August tasks were different from the usual and we started to clear away the bits of hay left behind from the baling.
At the edge of the meadow a large willow tree had broken and so some of the group helped to cut the branches up, creating habitat piles of wood and leafy branches. The brushcutter was used to cut some of the nettles and grass from the area around where the tree had fallen.
A litter-pick rounded off the morning's activities for the seven of us there.
Picnic time
7th July
The weather forecasts threatened heavy showers but luckily there was only one and then the sun stayed out for our annual picnic! A dozen of us gathered around one of the log seats and shared some delicious food after a productive morning's work.
We had cleared the overgrown path beside our native hedge, cut overhanging vegetation from other paths, cut off hogweed and dock seedheads from the meadow, cleared around the various new saplings, cut branches from partly fallen trees and picked up litter.
After eating and chatting we followed Michael around the meadow admiring the flowers. Unfortunately it's been so wet this year that the grass has grown long hiding the view of the flowers, but at least we were pleased to see large patches of betony.
Summer has arrived and everything is still growing
2nd June
A dozen of us enjoyed a warm and sunny morning in the meadow. There was still plenty of hogweed to be cut to reduce the amount of seed falling on the ground and the weeds were cleared from around the saplings planted in the spring. Paths were mown, nettles were strimmed and cuttings were put on the compost heaps.
We also experimented with a new task for us: using a quadrat of 1m long bamboo canes positioned randomly on the grass we examined what plants and grasses were growing in that area, resorting to identification books and phone apps to establish the species. Grasses are not easy and have grown so much that it is difficult to find other plants hiding below. A skill we need to practise?
Everything is growing now
5th May
Mid-spring and it is the time when the yellows of cowslip and dandelion are steadily replaced with the yellow of buttercups across the meadow.
Now that it is a little warmer but often still wet, the grass has been growing rapidly, so the mowing teams are swinging into action to cut the paths round the meadow. We realign the paths so that they stay narrow and do not creep across the meadow.
We strimmed a couple of areas of thick grass so that some grass is short and some longer, to provide a variety of habitats for invertebrates.
Another group of us started the task of cutting off the hogweed flower heads to reduce the quantity of seed, otherwise hogweed may take over as it is so vigorous. There are still many white umbellifer flowerheads around the edge, mostly cow parsley which is not such a thug, so there remains plenty of nectar for the insects.
We also planted another donated walnut sapling by the river bank and pulled up nettles etc. from around the other saplings planted recently.
A variety of tasks in the meadow this morning
7th April
It was very windy but mild, and for once it didn't rain!
Ten of us were busy with all sorts: mowing the paths, strimming the edges and round the log seats, scything patches of young nettles, planting another two donated saplings (rowan and crab apple), pulling up countless sycamore saplings from under the mature ones, pulling up sticky burr from overwhelming last month's saplings and building a barrier of sticks to deter trampling them. There was even time for a litter check-up.
The area is greening up now that spring has arrived and the primroses and celandines are being replaced with cowslips and dandelions. The buttercups are just beginning to flower and there are a very few snakes-head fritillaries.
Tree planting #IDigTrees
3rd March
This morning ten of the group helped to plant fifty bare-root saplings around the meadow. These were provided free by the I Dig Trees initiative of TCV (The Conservation Volunteers) to whom our group is affiliated. This was a 'Wildlife Booster' pack to encourage all sorts of wildlife e.g. invertebrates, birds and mammals to nectar, berries and nuts. The tree species comprised hazel, hawthorn, blackthorn, dog rose, elder, spindle, dogwood and silver birch.
We enjoyed a rare dry, fine, sunny morning digging and planting them into gaps in our native hedge and alongside the cycle path. The task was completed with provided stakes and guards and photos were taken of the activities - see some of them in our gallery.
Lots of people and lots of jobs
4th February
It was very mild and very windy this morning but a dozen of the group were in the meadow.
The various jobs that were tackled included coppicing another hazel in the copse by the cycle path, cutting off and pulling down more bramble that was festooning the trees, raking up willow twigs from the verge, doing more hedge maintenance, and picking up a couple of sacks of litter from all around the meadow. All the cut material needed to be processed and stacked in various habitat piles and dead hedges.
New Year and new CEO
7th January
The group of us gathering in the meadow for the first task of the year met Beth, the new CEO of the landowner (Chippenham Borough Lands Charity). She was enthusiastic to hear about our work and keen to connect all the organisations concerned with the natural environment in the river corridor through town.
There were several tasks today: coppicing a couple of the hazel trees beside the cycle path, finishing brushcutting alongside the native hedge, spreading a few tree-chippings on the muddy entrances, pulling up nettles from the scrub belt, maintenance on the native hedge and a litter-pick.
A good morning's work in the cool, fresh air - a change from the constant rain of recent weeks!