Pushing ahead on all fronts at Battlemead

What a joyful sight to see so many red GoodGym t-shirts gathering for our group run/walk last night, and it was wonderful to be able to welcome newcomers Kay, Viv and Bernd.

It was a beautiful evening for our short walk or run along the pretty Thames tow path. 8 walkers set off first, with Nicola taking the lead. I warmed up and launched 4 runners with navigator Gillian at the helm, and then brought up the rear with 2 more walkers. We chatted about camping and it all felt very wholesome!

As well as the sea of red t-shirts, we were dressed in long sleeves and trousers, and Tony even had some special pirate boots, ready to venture into the nettley undergrowth and overgrowth at the South East corner of Battlemead Common.

Our task for the evening was to pull up more invasive Himalayan Balsam, which threatens native biodiversity if left unchecked, and seems to be getting taller by the minute! We know from previous sessions that this can be a hugely satisfying task, as the roots come up really easily.

Angela spoke for everyone when she said, 'This is my kind of weeding!'

Short roots, minimal bending down, and a saitsifying crunching noise as you walk (or jump if you're Nicola or Diya) on the defeated stems piled on the ground.

Battlemead seems an apt name for this area as it does feel like we are engaged in battle - albeit the jolliest, least lethal battle ever. We pushed forward on multiple fronts and gained much ground.

We also had one wounded soldier as Claire got a face full of nettles not once but twice! She was very brave and said a cup of tea and bed would sort her out.

We mustn't rest on our laurels. The enemy is growing stronger week by week. We found one plant already in flower. It had lovely, pink, sweet-pea like bells, whose prettiness is what got us into this mess in the first place, back when the Victorians introduced the plant to British gardens in 1839. (NB these are not the pretty pink flowers pictured with Juli. They are perennial sweetpeas, which are growing along the tow path and are not the enemy!)

We need to prevent the plant from flowering because according to the RHS, each flowering plant can produce up to 800 seeds. These can then be dispersed widely as the ripe seedpods shoot their missiles up to 7m away. If the seeds get into waterways then they can quickly spread even further. If any Taskforce members would like to list more balsam-battling sessions then that would be brilliant. There is still time to win at Battlemead!

Thanks to Yesim and Diya for photos.