FoPV Work Morning Roundup - Tuesday 23rd June 2026

Jun 28

3 min read

Hello Conservation Volunteers

Having endured 9C and rain at Porter Clough on the previous session we were back to a hot and sunny 30C again for our latest work morning around Forge Dam!

This was our first foray of the year into the Wet Woodland for Himalayan Balsam pulling. On venturing into the WW across the low point of the river the usual patch of balsam which used to first meet us was not there, just the odd one or two, duly dispatched as we made our way further in. The balsam needs pulling out by the roots, a gentle pull low down on the stem usually extracts the whole plant but infuriating sometimes it breaks off low down, and it becomes a hide and seek trying to find the bit with the root.

What was noticeable this year was the size of the nettles, a good 5 foot tall in places, obviously a good year for them, a bad one for us as we made our way through them, especially when balsam was growing in the middle of them! One such area was where we came across an open glade type area with plenty of balsam to keep us occupied for a while. Any balsam pulled is draped over tree branches so it can dry and die, but Chris N went a step further and decided he would make an "artistic" display of all balsam he pulled on a suitable large horizontal branch.

When the time came to exit and go back for a coffee, rather than re-cross the river we made our way higher up and came across a very large area full of the stuff. Although tempting to pull (once you get your eye in, it becomes compulsive to pull balsam whenever you spot one!) we decided to save the location on W3W to come back to next time.

Apart from bramble scratches and nettle stings we all emerged relatively unscathed, although Dave C managed to lose his boot in the mud (memory recalls he had the same issue last year too!)

Whilst the balsam pullers had been working, Mike and Keith back at base had other jobs in hand.

Mike has been tidying up the store. It looks much better, although it appears we have had some visitors who have been having a feast on one of the plastic tonne bags which had been laid on the floor to protect the new gazebos from damp before we had room to put them on the shelves! Just as we closed up a bird flew out too - maybe it had flown in earlier for a bit of a cooling off?

Keith cut back all the overhanging foliage on the path which goes up above the playground, which was starting to be become overgrown, narrowing the path.

The next work morning is on Thursday 9th July. An email will be sent out nearer the time with details.

Lyndon

A Selection of photos from the work morning

Making our way through nettles and brambles, pulling the odd balsam as we go