Massive Marshian Stomp

If one thing is going to stop us, it’s a flood and that’s exactly what we got just before the Massive Marshian stomp.

It was always going to happen and for the anniversary of our first ever massive stomp it did.

It rained in the week and by Saturday morning the water had obviously risen. By that evening it was too deep to stomp. We had to make a plan B.

By Sunday morning plan B was looking sketchy as the water had risen even more. Too late to change it. Hordes of folk arrived before Plan C could be hatched.

But before the main event we needed even more willow. so we had to cross the marsh and carry bundles of twigs and branches back.

We were able to admire the newly extended board walk and the new surfacing where the puddles used to be.

We set to work with the willow, our imagination and some ribbons.

Soon we had flags and swillows, a species unique to the marsh.

The dawn of the big stomp seemed perfect. Except that the water level had continued rising during the night. We set about dressing the entrance, putting up banners, preparing footbaths, and tentatively wading into the marsh. Gulp….. this is deep!

And then the marsh filled with people. A band struck up as folks sank over their wellies. Voles skittered across the water, flushed by the rising levels, some were rescued and taken to higher ground. Every time there’s a flood a lot of animals get marooned. On this one day some were lucky and made it to safety.

Folks squealed in delight as music floated around them. Not only did we save some but they got away without the Kestrels Ravens Crows and Buzzards trying to hunt them down.

Folks came from far and wide and even invented a stomping tool which we’ll make some more of.

There were many new faces among the old ones.

In two hours of mud laughter and music most people had got enough water in their wellies to know they’d achieved something

Some folks didn’t even bother with wellies, but brought flags instead. It showed they cared about more than the marsh.

As we left we cut most of the willow into short lengths and pushed them into the soil. These are going to screen the road from the marsh, we planted a couple of hundred and with a little time they’ll grow tall and dense and become a place many people will have fond memories of.

We haven’t worked in this part of the marsh much before the big stomp. We wanted to work on the area we’ve been scything for the last two months. But the fickle marsh decided our effort would be better spent near the road. In many ways it’s turned out to be ideal.

Not least because our new Marshian stomping community has found its feet. And now it’s going to want to use them.