Northcliffe Woods,

A drizzly damp day so we were accompanied by the midges today as we worked around the pond in Northcliffe Woods. 

We successfully dug out the silt, shale and sticks from the two silt traps that are situated at the entrance to the pond. The plan is that the Friends of Northcliffe volunteer group will pay regular visits to try and maintain space in the silt traps so the debris doesn’t wash straight into the pond. It’s always an issue where to carry the arising mud to, so we will just have to see how this goes, but we have made a good start in both the traps and the channel through the pond. 

We also made a good impact on the Himalayan balsam population on the banking above the pond and on the hillsides either side.