We’re planning on having a big old stomping work party at 10 am on 22 December to trample some of the Fobney marsh.
WHY WE’RE DOING IT
There are several hundred acres of wet marsh and we’ve so far trampled about half an acre. The trampling combined with the flooding has attracted an incredible number of birds but they are confined to a small area of the marshes. The lack of grazing in recent years has really affected the space used by birds and if we do nothing, in a few years it will be gone. It will still be a wild place but not as rich in wildlife as it could be.
Before we start work we’ll take a while to appreciate just how wonderful the marshes are, get to know one another and discuss what we’re going to do. We’ll have binoculars and telescopes and experts to share around.
We may also have some news about a significant increase in interest from the bureaucrats. We hope to have a very high level meeting a couple of days before we meet. As yet the council have shown no interest at all so we’ve managed to go over their heads, thanks to some serendipity.
WHAT WE’RE PLANNING TO DO
The plan is to get into the marsh and pretend we’re cows mooching about. All you need is a pair of wellies and a sense of humour.
It will be chaotic and we might split up into smaller groups to make it a bit more manageable but we’ll decide on the day. This is a guerrilla action, so it’s not official, but as some of us have been trying for years to get something done here we’ve given up talking and we’re just getting on with it.
THE PRESSURE TO ACT
We’ve been worrying about the loss of biodiversity across the globe. To watch our wild marshes lose a lot of what makes them special while officials don’t even reply to emails is very frustrating. Having a bunch of activists turn up is much more rewarding.
There were 50 cows there a year or so ago. Now there are none, so if 50 people turn up for an hour and trample a fraction of the area they did they’ll restore a bit of that old grazing marsh.
Since the cows left other birds have taken advantage of the taller vegetation. So rather than a herd turning up and smashing everything like a herd of cows would, we’ll just trample selected areas. That way we get the best of both worlds. Well, the birds do.
This is what the marsh looked like when it was grazed. (And flooded!)
This is what the marsh looked like after the cows left and before we started work
And this is what it looked like after we’d trampled some of it
It’s as simple as that, and by doing it en masse and then leaving the birds will soon return, even though there’s nearly a million square metres of marsh for them to hang out in. They really like the bit we’ve been working on!
BIO SECURITY
One thing to do before we turn up is to clean our wellies. The movement of organisms from one place to another can have serious impact on our wildlife. Sometimes things live in the treads of boots and use our wellies to move from one place to another. We’ve had real problems in the area with several invasive alien plants choking wetlands. So if you give your wellies a good wash and then leave them to dry it reduces the risk significantly.
GETTING THERE.
We’ll gather here https://maps.app.goo.gl/gGNrRGJTiBW3sDgGA?g_st=ic
https://w3w.co/forum.fear.shall
Walking is the best way. It’s about 20 minutes from the centre of Reading along the canal towpath.
If you come by bike follow the cycle route along the A 33 relief road. Bring a lock and we can look after the bikes along the path where they’ll be secure.
Buses that head from the town centre to Kennet island, Mere Oak park and ride and Green park all pass and stop close by.
There’s really limited parking close by so we’ll make that available to those that need to park close. A few minutes walk up the road is the car park for the retail park on Rose Kiln lane and you could park there for 3 hours.
Someone set up a welly boot sharing group for the event but I’ll see if I can extend that to lift sharing and walking and cycling together.
The link to that WhatsApp group is here:
https://chat.whatsapp.com/CSybI3hJa2IA84PXeOxxGY
After we’ve done our work we’ll hang around on the footpath to have some festive social fun and watch the birds return to the marsh. We hope to have quite a celebration and there may be some entertainment but I’m not sure about that yet. More details to follow!!
If you want to know more just ask in the chat group https://chat.whatsapp.com/FcVNUbDpw6L7IYxJq62SiS
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Rural Reading 