Balsam Bashing Bonanza

A group of "balsam bashers" from the Friends of the River Frome, led by Dorothy-Anne Bryant, visited Iford today to assist us with the ongoing fight against Himalayan Balsam.

Balsam is an annoyingly pretty, but highly invasive species which is colonising the UK's river banks.

 The team of 8 donned their gloves, waders, and other gear and pulled the better part of two tonnes of plants over the course of a couple of hours.

We even deployed the good ship Siegfried.  

Siegfried is a former Rheingold dredger from back in the day (no, not really).

 It was a lot of fun, and if you would like to join the Balsam Bashers in their essential work to free the bank from this invasive plant, then go to their website here:

http://fromeriverfriends.org.uk/

Some Signs of Spring

Some pictorial signs of spring appearing.  Undeniably weird weather, and we desperately need rain...

Spring is most definitely sprung

 If there had been any doubts at all, the Iford valley was undeniably kicked into Spring today.  Blackbirds, enjoying the sunshine and warmth, sang their hearts out with myriad songs.  Blossom yielded up its sweet scent, and this evening I saw my first bat of the year, foraging around the bridge for some early season mosquitoes presumably.

 

Hydro-electric project: weeks 1 & 2

##Note: I had intended to post this on 6 August, when I wrote it, but I pushed the wrong button and it ended up in drafts, so it's 2 weeks out of date.  Another update this weekend, therefore, is on its way for week's 3 and 4.##

One of the most exciting projects in the valley is the construction of a hydro-electric plant in the former eel-trap (below) beside the weir (above).

Once complete, the system should generate enough energy to power between 10 and 15 homes (although the electricity will be sold to the grid initially at least) without impacting the local environment negatively at all.

It has always seemed daft to us that we have this powerful resource running through the valley which is essentially unharnessed.  Indeed, the river at Iford has a long history of providing power in the past: originally Iford Mill had an undershot wheel, and it was in the 1930s or so that this was modified to power an early electricity generator.  This was removed in the 1960s since the valley had been added to the grid (to the great satisfaction of residents who no longer had to contend with brown-outs and having to remove sheep, big-bales, and general river detritus from the grille in front of the generator).  And so, after 50 years or so, the river will be returning to work.

For information on the mills in the area, try this excellent book: Wiltshire and Somerset Woollen Mills, Kenneth Rogers

With permissions received and paperwork signed-off, we have excitedly watched as the civil engineering work has begun.  A benefit of this scheme is that it has provided the perfect opportunity to undertake repairs to the weir and mill leet, and whilst the Dutch firm Spaans-Babcock are manufacturing our 10ft diameter Archimedean screw, the repairs are underway first.
Above, the mill leet before clearing, and below a girder bridge is put in to access the weir with heavy plant.

And here's some of the land-based plant with a gratuitous advert for Suttle's, our contractor.

A collapse some years ago through undercutting has been used to create a fish-ladder as requested by the environment agency, and we are also creating an eel-pass which will assist the passage of elvers upstream; these measures should provide a positive benefit to the natural inhabitants of the river through the diversion of much of the water through the screw.
Below, the fish ladder during construction - it looks a lot better after it's finished apparently.

We'll report as the project takes shape, but having had five power cuts in the last three months, it is an exciting prospect to know that self-sufficiency will be just a cable's-run away in the future should we need to resort to that!
Above, the weir, dried out for inspection, before the major work commenced.

Today is butterfly day

Iford today hosts a wonderful community event called "Butterfly Day", which is a celebration and exploration of the wildlife that we enjoy in the valley here at Iford.  Click here for details.

In association with Butterfly Conservation, moth traps were set up last night, and a fantastic haul of around 60 different species of large moths are now on display.  These will be released again at the end of the afternoon, of course!

This year we are particularly pleased to welcome the RSPB back with their fascinating displays of birdlife in the valley.  In conjunction with the butterfly and moth brigade, they will be orchestrating wildlife walks during the afternoon around the meadows and hillsides.

And there's a little bonus for those with an interest in chiropterophilia too.  The Vincent Wildlife Trust, with the help of Natural England which administers the Special Site of Scientific Interest in the valley, has set up an infrared camera to allow us to watch the baby Greater Horseshoe Bats in the barn.  This protected species is very rare indeed, and so it is a great privilege to be able to see inside such a healthy roost.

It all kicks off at 11:30am, so we hope to see you later!  And the best thing about Butterfly Day...?  It's free to enter!

The tearoom will be open from 12 until 5, and the garden open as usual from 2pm.

The joys of sunlight

The light was playing games last night.  So I set out to catch it red-handed:

Above: Wild garlic in the mill leet; below: the lantern in the oriental garden

 Above: the lily pond lawn, back-lit

 Below: a South-Devon from the Iford Valley herd moseys past.

Common Spotted Orchid

A photograph from Stephen, our keen-eyed land agent, of the Common Spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii) seen in the valley yesterday. 

For the past however many years, we have farmed the pasture land of the Iford valley with species conservation in mind.  As proud landlords to a large colony of greater horseshoe bats (and accompanying Special Site of Scientific Interest), and with part of the estate in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, this valley is never going to be appropriate for intensive agriculture - and nor should it be.

Round 6 of the Maxxis Motocross

Farleigh Castle circuit, at the other end of the Iford estate from the manor, hosted Round 6 of this year's Maxxis British MotoCross Championship.  Seen amongst 'aficionados' as one of the great natural tracks (the track has been in annual use since 1936, so it's something of a grandfather in the sporting heirarchy!), old-school riding styles were required to negotiate the challenging terrain, bumps and steep terraces.

A report here from This is Somerset
and here from the official MXGB site

Judging by their attire, a few of the large crowd that attended the weekend event from all over the UK and Europe also took the time to walk over to the tearoom at Iford along the riverside footpath, where they found, hopefully to their satisfaction, something of a contrast from the petrol fuelled excitement at Farleigh!

Butterflies flutter by...

Your regular author apologises for the lack of posts over the past month - he has been taking his Masters exams at the Royal Agricultural College and then catching up on the piles of post which built up during the period!  Over the next few weeks I hope to bring you up to date on the past month at Iford, starting with the wonderful events of "butterfly day", yesterday.

Run jointly between Butterfly Conservation and Iford Arts, this wonderful free event is aimed at both children and adults, and was held this year on Sunday 27th June in the baking heat of a glorious weekend.  With England playing Germany that afternoon, those that came to Iford had the better fortune, avoiding the disappointment of a somewhat predictable televised exit from that esteemed sporting competition.

The lepidopterists and other wildlife experts had set up traps overnight in the Iford valley, and the 80 species of moth caught were on display for inspection by the 250 plus children and accompanying adults that visited us on the day.  [When the list of sightings both for butterflies and moths is available, it will be posted on this blog].

Inside the marquee, kindly donated by NFU Mutual Insurance, there were activities galore, including storytelling, paint-a-butterfly (or moth!), decorate a butterfly cupcake, and perhaps most popular of all, facepainting.

For the more inquisitive of our younger visitors there was a treasure hunt, which encouraged children to learn about trees through exploration and research, and for the adventurous, guided walks through the long wild flower meadows were available for keen-eyed butterfly-spotters.  The photographically entered a competition on the day of butterflies and moths sighted during these walks, and hopefully we can post the winning image on this blog soon.

Butterfly friendly plants were available from a stall run by Downside Nurseries in Westwood, which proved popular with those wishing to bring more of a flutter to their gardens.

Many visitors, we are told, discovered Iford for the first time: to them a big "hail and well met".  The tearoom was very busy (mostly ice creams this weekend), and we were delighted to be able to provide a rare and relatively safe environment where children could learn through the medium of discovery and play, that not all moths need be crushed immediately under foot!

The laughter of children truly is infectious, and whilst the garden itself may not be particularly suitable for young visitors owing to its historic nature, to be able to offer a free day of natural discovery for the young is greatly rewarding.  Thank you to all that made it happen.

Cutting the miscanthus

On the estate farm we have been experimenting for a few years by growing an energy crop called miscanthus, more commonly known as elephant grass.  It's getting late, so I'll spare you the smug "green" chat about why it is that we put the crop in, and how wonderfully energy efficient it is and all that, and instead just show you some photos of the really amazing machine that the contractor used to slice-and-dice the crop.

In a following post, one of these days when time allows, I would like to expand a little more on how Iford is doing its bit to promote renewables.

Healthy lichen, healthy air.

Lichen has long been understood by scientists as an indicator-species for air pollution, and it is my understanding that the more frail-looking and leafy a lichen is, the more it is susceptible to air quality. 

So it brings great satisfaction (and not a little relief!) to discover that despite the flight path for Bristol airport and the A36 in relatively close proximity, our lichen are telling us they're happy with an explosion in the growth on the old cherry tree on the great terrace, amongst others.

So... if you need a gulp of fresh air, you know where to come!

p.s. Starter for 10:  can anyone name the lichen pictured?

Moving the Cattle

Yesterday morning it was time to move the cows from the Wiltshire side of the river to fresh pasture on the Mill bank.

Our herd of pure-bred South Devons, based at Castle Farm in Farleigh Hungerford, made a pretty picture as they trotted over the bridge, past Britannia wearing her lichen coat...

... and somewhat suspicious of the man in the tweed cap with the camera, standing behind some trees: