Early May on the Marsh.


The Warden takes a walk around the Reserve on a bright morning in early May.


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Cutting Osier Willows. January 2020.

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At the North end of the Reserve is a small bed of osiers willows. These need to be coppiced regularly. This year we used the material to make faggots to build up the very marshy path at this point. Some of these thicker osiers were to be used as stock material to make a new Osiers bed in Pishiobury Park, Sawbridgeworth. To keep them fresh they were stood in the cattle trough which was full of water.
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Pollarding and building a 'veteran' pollard.

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Pollarding Willows is a good way to manage them because it prevents branches breaking off and brings about the formation of a thick trunk which is often rotten internally and is excellent for biodiversity. It maintains the vitality of the tree. The problem can be what to do with the branches and wood that has been cut off the trunk? In the past, it has been usual to have a large fire and burn everything up but now it is recognised that this is not only very destructive to any invertebrates living on or in the wood, but it is also damaging to the soils of the Marsh not to speak of the smoke and carbon dioxide liberated into the atmosphere. A solution therefore that is being followed is to build square eco-piles by piling up the larger wood around the outside and in filling the centre with all the branch wood. The theory is that this will provide a much better habitat for wildlife than a straightforward pile all stack of wood. Another idea that is being explored is to create ...
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Working on the ditch culvert.

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At the South end of the Reserve a small stream flows into the Reserve from Great Hyde Hall. Here is a picture of this stream been cleared out in the early days of the reserve, probably late 1970s. Over the years the culvert under the road had become blocked with silt and the water was flowing over the road into the Reserve. On the reserve side a lot of garden rubbish had been dumped and we spent some time, clearing out this rubbish to expose a brick culvert. The farmer kindly came and unblocked the culvert on his side using a large excavator. And then to finish the job we constructed a living Willow fence along the roadside.
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