Riff Raff Diary July 2018

Published on: 15 Jul, 2018
Updated on: 15 Jul, 2018

Riff Raff Cottage and Weir

Riverbank tales from the local St Catherine’s lengthsman and weir keeper

by Robert Craig

I’ve had plenty of strimming to be done along the towpath (even with the dry spell having slowed growth somewhat!) – downstream of St Catherines Lock to just beyond Ferry Lane and upstream of Millmead Lock through to Weir House meadow has been done.

Lengthsman Rob using a sit-on mower to help keep the riverside growth under control just downstream from St Catherine’s Lock.

Another hot job was pulling up ragwort in the field next to St Catherine’s meadow. My objective is to pull it prior to its seeding, thus preventing it from spreading further. It’s not a big problem but worth pulling out the few plants that we have before they start spreading.

Ragwort, a weed that can be poisonous to livestock if ingested.

At the beginning of June, I spent a very productive day in Shalford Nature Reserve with a large group of volunteers to help me. We were pulling up the invasive Himalayan Balsam.

This is something that needs to be done before August when the plant goes to seed, and by the end of the day, with so many helping hands, we had managed to pull a large amount. We also had some fallen and encroaching willows to clear.

Swifts – putting on a wonderful display.

Down at St Catherine’s Lock, the swifts are putting on a wonderful display of aerobatics swooping low over the surface of the water catching insects and amongst the broom and bramble in the meadow, there are plenty of whitethroats and linnets to be seen.

Meadowsweet or Filipendula ulmaria

I was also pleased the other evening to see the barn owl quartering the fields, not having seen it for some time.

Along the towpath the meadowsweet is in full flower and looking splendid, a plant once used for its aspirin-like qualities.

Also to be seen is hemp agrimony which traditionally had a medicinal use as a claimed cure for jaundice and was believed to cleanse the kidneys and bladder.

See you by the river.