Balsam pulling at Hardcastle Crags on 14th August 2016

We spent today at Hardcastle Crags in West Yorskhire, a property we seldom visit near Hebden Bridge in Bronte country (Wuthering Heights).  Eight of us turned out and were joined by Hardcastle's second-Sunday-in-the-month volunteers.  We all spent the day pulling up Himalayan balsam from fields, hedgerows and woods around the Estate Office (Hollin Hall).  By the end of the day the verges of the lane were littered with piles of snapped balsam plants.  The plants are pulled at this time of year before their seed pods develop.

Ranger Drew told us about the ongoing field trials in nearby valleys of 'fungus rust' to see if this could be a viable biological control against the spread of the balsam.  Preliminary results look encouraging.

In the afternoon a couple of walkers stopped to talk to Daniel: one said how much less balsam there was this year than last (Drew agreed) and another asked why we were pulling up all the foxgloves (hee hee)!

Those of us working in the Estate Office's garden saw a couple of Red Admiral butterflies.  They were flitting about from ragwort to ragwort, obviously attracted by the vivid yellow leaves.