Manor Farm, Marcham, 6th July 2019

By Andrew -
Eleven of us showed up in the farmyard at Manor Farm, Marcham for our last visit of the season. The weather was fairly cloudy but still very warm and dry, unlike our previous visit, when we had had heavy rain and the stream was quite fast flowing. We made our way to our usual encampment and split up into a few groups to go Himalayan Balsam pulling. Much of it was already in flower.

It was important to work along the ditch running beside the road, as we hadn’t done that at all this year. We had cleared it several years ago and many native wild flowers had returned so we didn’t want to see it taken over by balsam again. There were many butterflies around, mostly meadow browns and ringlets and also a scarlet tiger moth, which you can see in the photo.

We worked hard until tea break time and most people were reluctant to return to work, a feeling that can be blamed on the muggy weather. However, there was still plenty to be done and as usual, we couldn’t get at it all.

As we approached the farmyard, we spotted a huge patch, some of it about eight foot tall and in flower so, our time having run out, we tried to ignore it!
-Eleanor



Photos by Margaret (except last photo by Sally):

Arrival.

The lake.

Michele with balsam.

Tea break.


Surveying the task ahead.

Getting stuck in.

Close up of balsam.

Scarlet tiger moth.

Rosie and Michele (photo by Sally).


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