It’s Taken Ten Years... (17 Mar 2017)
...and it really was a 3’ wide overgrown ditch when we started. There were whole trees and branches across the stream and quite a lot of rubbish to remove. Willows were overhanging the road and brambles encroaching the footpath. The team made the willows safe and planted hedges beside The Talbot car park, alongside the pavement and beside the footpath to the field. The hedges are maturing and should be a picture this spring ... There may even be a few wild flowers nearby.
The first workboat ‘Rex’ fell apart after a few years but ‘Olly Dog’ has survived a number of sub-mergings and is honoured to appear on sculpture posts and in so many photographs.
People using the misrouted footpath in Dukes Meadow (its proper route is beside the stream!) are missing a treat of viewing an unspoilt natural stream and its wildlife. And sometimes on a Thursday morning seeing three old boys playing in a little boat. Seen here, two thirds of the Wharf Stream Team - Richard Higgins is in the white hat with Tim Beesley; the missing third is behind the camera.