Balsam and Rhody-regrowth bashing at Gawthorpe Hall, Burnley on Sunday 11th July 2021

It was another day of Balsam bashing, along with some Rhody-regrowth bashing, in a beautiful location that we have only recently had the opportunity to revisit - Gawthorpe Hall near Burnley.

Gawthorpe Hall

Nine of us met Ranger Nik and his long-time volunteer Jeff in the staff car park by the Hall. They first showed us the Bothy and the walled garden where we had worked a couple of years ago, which had become overgrown during Lockdown. It seems to have been a mixed blessing as it has encouraged many more butterflies and bee's to visit the garden, so much so that there are plans to retain some of the wild flowers when they start getting on top of the work needed in there again.

Our tasks today were to tackle an area covered with Himilayan Balsam (amongst nettles and brambles!) and try and eradicate as much of it as possible before it could spread it's seeds, as it was already starting to flower. There was also an area of Rhododendron Ponticum which had previously been cut down, but was starting to regrow and needed cutting back again.

We split into two groups and tackled one task each group. 

When it came our usual morning break-time, we sadly realised that because our rucksacks had been locked in the Bothy for safety and to save us having to carry them with us, we needed Nik to unlock the Bothy for us. Unfortunately he and Jeff had been called off site to do a quick job, which turned into a long job, so we couldn't reach our coffee and cake!

Once Nik and Jeff returned, we had an early lunch and chat as Nik told us all about the current restoration work they are doing on Holcombe Moor: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/projects/restoring-holcombe-moor

Lunch time:-)

It was really fascinating to hear and, as Nik proudly showed us an areal photo which had been taken of the bunds, he told us that we may see more about it on the TV in the coming weeks. I decided to do a quick internet search when I got home, and I found this link that you may find interesting to watch: https://manchesterlocal.tv/news/restore-the-moor-improving-holcombe-moor-peatland/

Sue's happy - she's about to destroy her first flowering Balsam of the season!

After tearing ourselves away from Nik's tales, we went back to our tasks, some swapped groups to have a change of scene and we finished our day around 3pm. We're certainly looking forward to returning to Gawthorpe Hall or maybe work next time on Holcombe Moor:-)

Photo's from Adrian and Sue