Ock Valley Walk, Town End, 2nd July 2016

By Andrew -
This was the session when we had decided to work on the town end of the Ock Path instead of the Tesco (other supermarkets are available!) end, which we will tackle at the end of the month. Vegetation was encroaching on to the woodchip path, making it almost impassable at points and some of our young trees had almost disappeared under nettles and goose grass. Flowering Himalayan Balsam was appearing among the willow trees. There was a partially fallen tree on the main path as well as some overhanging branches here and there, obscuring the view of cyclists and pedestrians. As usual on this path there was a certain amount of litter, particularly at the Drayton Road end.

 Fortunately, thirteen volunteers turned up so there were plenty of people to tackle the work and the weather was mainly sunny. The only hitch was that my (leader's and tool carrier's) car broke down in the car park so I spent most of the session not leading but waiting for the rescue services. We got a lot of work done during the session and moreover were thanked by various passers-by for looking after this popular and much used area. You will see photos, taken by Kevin of interesting caterpillars and other wildlife. The Himalayan Balsam proved much more abundant than it first appeared and will need at least one more dedicated session, perhaps on a weekday .
-Eleanor














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