Richard’s Wey July 2018

Published on: 14 Jul, 2018
Updated on: 14 Jul, 2018

The latest report from Richard Cant, the Stoke lengthman on the River Wey Navigations

Summer certainly seems to have arrived with a bang over recent weeks, with consistently high temperatures and plenty of sunshine.

It seems funny now that in May I was writing about how the showery weather was interrupting my work programme whereas this month I’ve been fighting against the heat and trying to stay cool!

This is easier said than done when the main task for the month has been strimming back the vegetation along the towpath, a labour intensive and sweaty task especially when wearing overalls to protect myself from nettle stings and other nasty reactions to contact with plants.

Like with all the work we do on the river, strimming back vegetation is a balancing act for the needs of people and wildlife. This is why most of the vegetation is just cut back at a rough 45-degree angle so that the towpath is clear but we maintain the bulk of the vegetation as a habitat and food source for wildlife.

One of the areas of towpath erosion repaired by my volunteers. The timber is all hazel that we coppiced along the river last winter as part of our ongoing and sustainable tree management. The inclusion of reeds and other vegetation will mean the bank is held together and protected long after the wood has rotted away

The areas where you can see I’ve cut the vegetation right down are either for visiting boats to be able to moor up or, since the fishing season started again on June 16, for fishermen to be able to reach the water.

Again, this is a balancing act, this time trying to meet the needs of the fishermen by cutting swims in areas they would like to fish while avoiding sections where the towpath is too narrow to safely accommodate fishing and walking and cycling.

Another important task of late has been to continue the fight against non-native invasive species which have a detrimental impact on the biodiversity of our countryside. This has meant many hours spent pulling Himalayan balsam, thankfully with the help of not only my regular volunteers but also some youthful vigour from the local 2nd Guildford Scout Group who came to help for an evening.

As well as the balsam, I’ve also been continuing to treat the Japanese knotweed along the entire navigation, which I’m pleased to say with persistent monitoring and treatment over the last few years has now been nearly eradicated from our property apart from just a couple of small isolated patches.

On the theme of invasive species, we continue this year to have a commercial fisherman removing the non-native signal crayfish from the river to try and reduce the negative impact they are having on not only our native crayfish but also fish populations and bank conditions.

Please don’t try this yourself as they have a special licence from the Environment Agency and permission from the National Trust so as to ensure no detrimental impact on the property or wildlife.

Other tasks have been to continue mowing the locksides (by the end of June I was cutting more dust than grass), trying to keep on top of the increased litter that inadvertently comes with the nice weather and extra visitors, and carrying out bank repairs in eroded areas.

All in all, a productive and enjoyable few weeks out on the river in the sunshine and long may it continue!

Richard

Stoke Lengthsman

07786 703 832

richard.cant@nationaltrust.org.uk