Tackling the overgrowth at West Beckham Old Allotments

It was another beautiful summer’s day for Felbeck Trust volunteers – bright, clear, warm and breezy! We had a good turnout (despite Peter shirking off early), with everyone keen to get cracking at West Beckham Old Allotments. This was a change of plan – we had been due to make hay at Sustead this week, but it was decided to delay haymaking because this year the wet weather followed by recent warm sunshine had led to late flowering of important plants.

So the task today was mainly to clear the access paths at the WBOA site in readiness for opening the whole site to the public at the beginning of September, and to keep the dock and ragwort in check – both these plants are great for wildlife, but you can have too much of a good thing!

Scythers and rakers really had their work cut out! The recent fine weather following on from all the rain had led to crazy growth of thistles, bindweed and that stuff that looks like giant hogweed but isn’t. The plantlife had grown so tall in recent weeks that the scythers could no longer be seen at all from the shed! Nick and Alan did sterling work at the north end of the site, while Brian and others tackled the path to the west.

A Buzzard was seen flying off from the pond after taking a little drink in the sunshine, and in amongst the long grass that was cut we found a perfectly spherical nest of grasses with a tiny entrance hole – Trevor said it was a mammal’s nest, although the jury’s out on which species – possibly Field Vole or maybe even Harvest Mouse.

After an hour or so of hefty work, the welcome bellow of ‘Break time!’ called us all to the shade of the shed, where we were treated to jam doughnuts to go with whatever beverage we’d brought in our flasks. A welcome breather and a chance to chat, and a few more of our lovely volunteers rocked up at this point to lend a hand, including Seán and Nigel who had already spent an hour clearing the paths Bale Surveyor’s Allotment.

Tracy, Vision and Val had been working on decapitating the dock and yellow ragwort. Tracy explained that some of the yellow ragwort flowers still had Cinnabar Moth caterpillars on them, and so she was leaving those in peace.

Then, much refreshed, we were all back to work for another stint under the warm sun and blue sky. The mislaying of crucial bits of kit was probably inevitable in all that undergrowth. Never leave your scythe’s sharpening stone hanging on a hogweed! Good advice for us all, I think.

The scythers and rakers having made excellent progress through the wild undergrowth, John was finally able to swing past with the motor mower to make a more inviting path for visitors to enjoy.

Fran Hiller

August 15th 2024