It’s been a busy summer on the site with a lot of projects underway, including:

• A very successful litter pick in May
• An exhausting attempt to clear the swamp area of Himalayan     Balsam
• A preliminary survey of insects on the site by 2 local entomologists
• Sightings of bee orchids in several locations, including over 30 in one place
• Spraying areas of Japanese Knotweed, a highly invasive tall bamboo-like plant, by the City Council. This will need to be repeated in future years

We are delighted to note that sand martins have started to nest in the muddy banks by the river this year. We had planned to install artificial nesting sites for these summer visitors, but this should not

now be necessary.

A major project called “My Space? Our Space!” has been running through the summer with a generous grant from a national fund which aims to involve young people. The work has been coordinated by the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV), who have installed steps on two steep sections of path, and are putting a wooden bridge over the stream at the north end of the site. We are most grateful to all concerned for their hard work on this project. BTCV will also be doing further scrub clearance and grass cutting in the autumn.

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