Sheila, Mick and Jen met the Friends of Haymill and BBOWT volunteers for their regular working party.

The plan for today was to clear the reed bed, and to redig and divert the channels we dug previously to direct the water to a specific corner of the reedbed to encourage regrowth.

When we reached the reedbed we were met with a blanket of nettles so the first job was to scythe and slash them down so they could be uprooted. Whilst most of the team did this Sheila and I went off to do a quick litter pick as there werent enough slashers/scythes available. My section of litterpicking was predominantly retrieving discarded tin cans and drinks bottles although I did retrieve part of a car too.

When we returned to the reedbeds enough of the nettles had been slashed that the channel digging had started. Mick made such good progress we named his area Mick's Trench in his honour.

The difference in how the area looked by the end of the session was remarkable.