FoPV Work Morning Roundup - Tuesday 24th March 2026

Lyndon
22 hours ago
3 min read

Hello Conservation Volunteers

There's always a lot of preparation going off this time of year for the annual FoPV Duck Race and this year was no different. The Construction Team had already been out the week before for a gazebo practice session so they are all clued up on how to erect our five brand new gazebos (and take them down!), plus another small group had done a reccy with ecologists and Parks Dept. to identify areas of old ancient woodland flora which we will be cordoning off to protect, so it was now time for our work morning volunteers in Endcliffe Park to get cracking on the usual checks and preparations.....

First up was Ranger Matt delivering equipment - tables, mats and pig tailed spikes, which we felt obliged to help him unload being as he had first been up to Concorde to collect and had to load it all up by himself! Many thanks Matt.

The main task is for a team to walk the race course in the river from start to finish removing logs, branches, large rocks and other debris which has accumulated over the year, ready for our ducks to have safe passage to the finish line on the day! With helpers on the banks to dispose of the debris it takes a couple of hours to end up at the finish line. This year a large tree trunk was laying from bank to bank just before the finish line and needed a fair few to shift it. We have found some strange objects in the river over the years (the battleship springs to mind), and this year a dog collar (not the vicar type!) was found - the dog was nowhere to be seen! Having cleared the course the duck launch crew will do a final check on the morning of the race to ensure it is fully cleared for the ducks.

Whilst the team was walking the river, the rest of the volunteers were doing a "deep clean" litter pick. Endcliffe Park is relatively free of litter, however, by the railings and in brambles and other remote areas all sorts of rubbish can be found. Along with the usual bottles, cans, coffee cups and lids, and general litter, this year's odd finds were part of a front spoiler off a VW car, sweeping brush, and a bag full of fishing equipment (fisherman not found!), not forgetting a traffic cone (there's always one of those thrown somewhere).

A big thank you to everybody who came out for a very worthwhile session.

The next work morning is on Thursday 9th April where wind permitting(!) we intend to attend to the bittercress area near Armchair Bridge which we had to cancel a month ago. An email will be sent out nearer the time with details.

Lyndon

A Selection of photos from the work morning

River clearing team in action....