Balsam under the M5
Met the Stroud Valleys Project crew on the A38 reserve to tackle Himalayan Balsam on this section of the Frome. This was done last year, and like the area last week, we’re seeing a marked decrease in the amount of balsam present.
This section includes going under the bridge where the river and canal will go together under the M5 after the restoration of the missing mile.
There’s not a lot of headroom under there – there will have to be quite a bit of digging to get enough depth to allow boats to pass under.
Most of the balsam were quite small and hiding among nettles right by the bank. So the technique was to carefully remove an area and then leap frog the next person along the bank.
Mike brought along his famous rhubarb and custard cake, which I’ve not had for ages. Went down a treat with the morning cup of tea. Lunch was in a pleasant clearing next to the river.
By the end, we had overtaken where we had done last year, and perhaps unsurprisingly we came across a huge patch. We’ll make a note next year to start further up so we can tackle it systematically.
