We saw what looked like a double headed insect on the floor of the railway wagon, close examination of the photo revealed it to be a pair of mating Cadis Flies. From the wagon we also saw a pair of Pied Wagtails on the water wheel. A pair of Swans were in the river by the mill, they stayed in that stretch of water all day.
The first job was to test the new lance of the weed sprayer, the old one broke and Eddie sourced a new one, he connected and tested it with water which worked well. Eddie also brought more vinegar so he mixed up another batch of environment friendly weedkiller and sprayed the brick floor where a few large weeds had returned.
The steps from the brick floor up to the riverbank were repaired. The top earth step had eroded away and was getting unsafe. I got some wood from our supplies and made a retaining upright to hold the soil back, fixed to the main wooden steps with battens. Soil from nearby mole hills and boiling house excavations was used to fill in behind the wood and tamped down to make a solid top step. We tested this throughout the day and its much safer. Grass should eventually grow back over it to make it blend in with the river bank.
We then crossed our footbridge to deal with some fallen trees which had come down a while ago along the Nar Valley Way footpath. We cut them up and put them at the side to form habitat piles for wildlife. Cows in the field were watching us working. We topped up our box of cards on the notice board so walkers can visit the website.
Back at the mill we had a cup of tea and decided that next time we will clear the area around the woodburner stove in the railway wagon and light it to check its in good working order for winter. Although work has not started yet on the wildflower project, we are making preparations behind the scenes for this, as we can’t start any work until the new year when conditions will be more suitable.
Graham Bartlett
Interactive Plan Site Activity Mill History Wildflower Meadow Volunteer Previous Next
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