Work Party - March 2024

 

The woodland was still very wet underfoot but just about manageable for a work party and the wild daffodils were in flower

We have largely ignored the stream flowing over the path but to encourage the water to go through, rather than over the pipe, the inflow was dug out again and some large stones put in to create a barrier.

And the outflow was dug out a bit too.

The dead wood structure, also known as Hotel Beetlejuice,  had become a bit wobbly as the  wood has got more rotten over the years.  It's been there a while now, definitely over 5 years.

The long branches were dug about 50cm into the ground. Some came up easily others were more firmly set. The wood was moved into two piles, one further up the path and and one filling in the resulting hole and covering the hedgehog house. 

We accidentally disturbed a slow worm so we made sure he had somewhere to go in the new pile and carefully buried him again.

Three donated bird boxes were put up around the glade.

Primroses

Bird box on a tree in the glade.

At the top of the main path, bordering the field, was a stand of laurel, a non-native species planted when the estate managed the wood, probably for game cover. It had got really big so we have started the process of removing it to let in more light and give the native species a chance. As the laurel wood is toxic volunteers were reminded to wash hands after handling it.

Work party in 2 halves - Sunday 4th February 2024

Part 1

It was dry enough,  if not actually sunny, for a few of us to tidy up the fallen tree. There was some question of why we were doing it as it wasn't our tree and the owner had said that they did want the wood. I suppose really it was because I wasn't sure how long that would take as it had been there for a month with no change and I didn't just want to leave it. We also wanted to clear the ditch of fallen debris and act as good neighbours in moving the logs, that had already been cut, to their side of the road.

 

We aren't able to use chainsaws, as a group, but we set to with with bow saws and between us put the branches in piles in the wood and the bigger stuff with the logs. 

We cleared small branches and twigs from the ditch but you really can't tell from this photo!

Part 2
 

The topic of flooding is never far from our conversation after several properties in the village were flooded in storm Babet in October 2023,especially as the rain continues to fall.  So when  Glenn offered to take us on a tour of the flood management strategies on the Helmingham Hall Estate, we jumped at the chance. Luckily as a small team today we were able to all fit in the Discovery so off we went.

The red deer gathering round us in anticipation of being fed, which they were which was all part of the trip.

Feeding the Soay sheep

On safari on the Helmingham parkland

Helmingham is upstream from Framsden on a tributary of the Deben. When people talk about the problem of flooding, which has become more prevalent in recent years as the climate changes, they often look at trying to get the water away as fast as possible as a solution, but there is a limit to how fast the water can travel to the sea and an immediate answer for one village might just pass the problem on to the next. 

Glenn has been working on an alternative  approach, slowing down the water so that it takes longer to reach the river and slowing the river itlself in zones where it doesn't put property at risk of flooding.  Here we have one example, a man-made beaver dam.

This is one of 2 lakes which have been dug as sort of holding areas for rainwater so that it doesn't flow straight into the river. 

Nice view of Helmingham Hall as we drove up the main drive.

Glenn showing us where there is a small pipe to reduce the flow of water into the river from this large lake, just upstream from Framsden  created after the floods of 1995 which was the last time properties were flooded in the village before the deluge of  October 2023

These 2 photos show the extent of the lake with the willows growing round the edge. 

It was a fascinating insight into all the work that has been done over many years  to as far as possible to prevent flooding. Glenn has be able to show the Environment Agency what has been achieved and indeed this has been copy and use similar strategies in Debenham. 

There was a lot of information so my apologies for the bits that I have no doubt forgotten, I hope that I have explained the main ideas.