We also had various styles of slashers we could use to chop the Balsam off as close to the ground as possible but most of us were quite happy pulling the Balsam up rather than using the slashers.
We worked steadily, avoiding brambles and other trip hazards, stopping for cake and coffee in a clearing in the sun mid-morning.
By lunchtime we'd finished pulling up all the easily-accessible Balsam so we gathered our First Aid kits, slashers and other equipment and walked back into the Dunham car park where we set ourselves up for lunch using one of the empty Dunham picnic tables.
After lunch, we met up with John so he could lead us all in our cars, slowly!, through the park past the visitors and deer and out on the main drive where we parked our cars near the stile. We then climbed over the stile, crossed Charcoal Road and started tackling the Balsam in an wooded area close to the golf club. There was so much Balsam in these woods that we felt we hardly had chance to make an impact by the time it was time to leave.
Let's hope other volunteer groups are lined up to continue this mammoth task before the Balsam seed heads 'explode', scattering their invasive seeds far and wide, making the spread of Himilayan Balsam even greater:-(
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