CRoW (Conserve Reading on Wednesdays)
Wednesday, 8th September 2021
Basildon Park (NT) ~ Ragwort and thistle removal and path clearance

The second and final day of a mini heatwave did not provide ideal conditions for the task. While ragwort may be removed from hay meadows because of its toxicity to livestock even when cut, the reason for its removal here was that, like the thistle, without control it would proliferate to an extent detrimental to this chalk grassland.

Late morning and a retreat to the dappled shade of the woodland provided some welcome relief from the heat. Here overgrowing vegetation was to be cleared from a path .....

.... and lunch taken (with Buddy, the ranger's dog).

Updated: Friday, 8th October 2021
Photographs: Alan Stevens