There’s a stream that flows across the meadows between the Holy Brook and the Branch line.

It’s shallow and stony, unlike most of the other ditches which are deep and silty.

It’s home to fish and frogs and grass snakes.

The fields either side of it are still grazed by cows, who browse the bankside vegetation and churn up mud.

It’s not a natural channel, it was dug to drain the marsh. It’s very effective, flowing more or less straight into the river half a mile downstream.

It’s so effective that this year it has dried up completely. There’s been no water in it for many weeks. There aren’t any fish, or frogs, just stones and mud. It’s a bit sad.

If only it was a bit less effective, and held back just enough water to sustain life. If only the bed of the ditch was a bit higher further down. Perhaps that would stop all of the water flowing away.

Well, a weir would help, and just near by is a pile of bricks. All of a sudden the whole pile vanished.

We searched and searched and suddenly we found them!

They were all piled neatly under a culvert!

We were amazed and spent hardly any time at all wondering how they got there. It could only have been the Marshians! Weird!

In reality it was during storm Amy that we found them. It was a nice enough day but the wind gusted ferociously. We could only surmise that the strong south westerly wind had picked up speed as it passed through the tunnel under the railway line. It must have created a vortex powerful enough to blow the bricks across the meadow. As it passed the culvert over the ditch a strange effect of gravity and shelter caused the bricks to land just where they did. It was obviously not Marshians, as they don’t exist.