Balsam bash

We spend father’s day afternoon in Appley Bridge community meadow & along the tow path helping with the fight to overcome the plague of Himalayan Balsam, along with Heather, Jason and the children. Pull it up, snap it and stamp on it. I understand the seeds were imported on the bails of cotton used in the northern mills. The plants are huge and smother the native wild flowers. Last year we saw some of the seed pods popping and I got hit in the face by them, the seeds shower a long distance. 

 

 

 

We didn’t capture a photo of our big bucket of elderflowers that we all gathered. They have been transformed into a big 6 litre batch of elderflower cordial that is now bottled and is lovely. The fermenting bucket is also full and fermenting away beautifully.

Monday we walked up to Ashurst’s Beacon in the drizzle, which luckily stopped as we got to the top. It was a tremendous view over Liverpool and beyond to Wales, Blackpool and the Lake District beyond. We did a good bit more balsam bashing that day too, very satisfying!!

 

 

Tuesday we were all set to head to Burscough when we noticed a tree had fallen over the canal slightly ahead. The CRT lads arrived with a little hand saw, which they were able to clear the tow path with. It was late afternoon before the contractors arrived with a little boat, long ropes and a few chain saws. They chopped up a good bit to clear a narrow channel and tied a big branch to the off side of the canal and they plannd to return in the morning to chop the rest up. There were 3 boats each side of the stoppage and only one headed off from each way at about tea time. We stayed put for another night and headed through the gap they’d made before they started work again on Wednesday.