An introduction.
We have a large area of marsh in Reading and one small bit of it is being stomped by us to make it a valuable habitat. We are Marshians.
We’ve been and done a bit of stomping 6 times this winter and the results have been amazing.
This is a guerrilla activity. We have no permission to be there, and we are not any type of organisation. We’re just a bunch of folks concerned with biodiversity loss and we’re doing what we can.
Each time we’ve done a bit more than the time before and each time more birds arrive and it’s not even the time of year for much migration.
Our aim is to stomp once a month (3rd Sunday) until spring when birds arrive to nest. We won’t stomp the marsh then, we’ll just enjoy the results of our work!
All we do is go on to the marsh en masse, trample and churn up the mud and then leave. We do it as quickly as possible to reduce the amount of time we disturb the birds. For this reason we don’t go on to the marsh at any other time, to keep disturbance to a minimum.
We meet at 10 am and start stomping at 10:30. We hope there will be loads of us this time. Bring your friends. There’s always room for more people! Bring children, they’re very welcome and if they’re big enough they can stomp. Some of the mud is quite shallow, so long as they have wellies and the adults have spare shoes and socks for the inevitable soggy sock moment.
There is a possibility we’ll find frogs spawning on our task next weekend (16 February) so we’ll be taking special measures to protect them if we find any.
Dogs are tolerated but don’t let them run riot, bite people, and if they have any sort of flea treatment applied to their fur keep them out of the marsh.
See here https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/243875/toxic-flea-tick-treatments-polluting-uk/
The marsh is near Rose kiln lane right next to Fobney mead water treatment works. There’s a path along the edge of the marsh, and about halfway along is where we gather.
All you need is a pair of wellies. Gloves aren’t a bad idea and a stick to lean on.
If you are experienced in cutting hay with a scythe and you have a scythe it could be useful to cut some of the vegetation so bring it along.
There’s a bit of a risk of transmission of unwanted plants that could badly affect the marsh so please scrub your wellies clean and let them dry beforehand.
There’s not much parking nearby so it’s best to come on foot or by bike. It’s a 20 minute walk from the town centre. There’s bus stops nearby at Kennet Island and car parking at the Brunel retail park just up the road.
The meeting point is right by the water works entrance.
What three words ///shows.porch.works
Or on google maps it’s:
https://goo.gl/maps/yJeaid9HABpyvxac6
Here’s a video of our last stomp. https://youtu.be/j1cwnWm28aw?si=4HvYWCmyOlS5J3Mv
If you’d like to know more ask in the group chat. And invite anyone you know to come and join in.
Rural Reading 