High winds and recent rainfalls had left their mark around Stockers lake. It didn't dampen our spirits for the January work party, but it did cause us to modify our to-do list.

Firstly there were a couple of locations on the River Colne side of the lake where the high winds had semi blocked the pathway, so a clearance job took precedence over our scheduled tasks.

Close by is the construction of a new kissing gate into cattle field 1. It's not completed yet but will enable walkers to negotiate it when cattle reside in field 2 this spring. We set about clearing a pathway inside the field of some thick brush and low branches.

Three of our group of volunteers planted 60 hedgerow whips to infill any gaps or sparse sections around the cattle fields.

Finally the rest of the team continued with hedge laying. During our last visit to this section in December we endured constant rain. This time we were able to lay a further section and finish it all by binding the top of the hedge to stakes, thus compacting and strengthening the hedge.

Pictured are shots of the pathway before and after clearance plus (main photo) one of the tool cart being lugged back to the Fisherman’s hut after the morning’s efforts. There were a couple of long sections where the pathway was completely submerged.

Before

After

Many thanks to Ken Davies, Nilesh Dodhia, Christine & Nick Gray, Simon Parish, Alison Marriott, Josh Kalms, Russell Ball and Nigel Daley.

Jack Westbrook