The new hardwood benches that have recently been sited along the Gravel Hill section of the Wom Brook were officially presented to the village by Simon Hopcutt yesterday, the son of Avis and Grafton Hopcutt whose names appear on the benches.
Despite the seemingly endless rainfall Wombourne has endured over the last few days, the sun prevailed, and ensured a pleasant backdrop for the informal ceremony, when Simon and his wife were joined by family members still living in the village, representatives of the Friends of Wom Brook, a local councillor and the team from South Staffordshire District Council who organised the placement of the benches.
Simon is on the right of the photograph, talking to South Staffordshire Landscape Manager Howard Medlicott. This was their first face to face meeting, as all previous contact regarding the choice of benches and arrangements for their placement was conducted via email, between South Staffordshire Council in Codsall, here in the United Kingdom, and Simon in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
The Friends of Wom Brook were pleased to meet Simon and his wife yesterday, and thank them for their kind contribution. The provision of the benches will provide welcome seating for others to sit and enjoy the natural surroundings provided by the Wom Brook.
Later today, a rather unique presentation will take place at the site of the new wooden benches. The relative of the two people commemorated has flown from Malaysia to the UK, in order to take part in today’s event.
Simon Hopcutt left a very informative comment here in the Wom Brook Diary about both his parents, Avis and Grafton Hopcutt. (Look back to the entry in this blog dated April 25, 2006, or click this link HERE ).
Hopefully, there will be a photograph recording today’s events, to follow shortly in this blog.
Following a comment left by Steve about hearing a cuckoo along the Railway Walk, its timely to mention the above flower, growing in the damp fringes bordering the trees by the side of the Brook.
It is another example of nature’s resilience-perhaps more commonly known as ‘Lady’s Smock‘, the cuckoo flower wasn’t often seen in the vicinity of the Brook due to large-scale grass-cutting in previous years, but due to careful management and good liaison between South Staffordshire Council, the sub contractors responsible for grass cutting in Wombourne, and the Friends of Wom Brook, last year saw a re-emergence of this particular flower.
This year, several examples can currently be seen. Hopefully these flowers will be left to grow, so that everyone can enjoy them.
One of the many advantages of having such a beautiful natural resource such as the Wom Brook flowing through Wombourne is to catch the occasional glimpse of harmonious scenes such as the one featured above-a pair of Mallard ducks peacefully paddling upstream quite contentedly, unfettered by the daily worries that so often occupy our lives.
Despite the close proximity of cars, dogs and people, these wild animals continue to make use of the Brook, and are a frequent sight at various stages along the Brook.
Although the above photograph is now a little out of date (it was recorded about a fortnight ago), it is nonetheless still relevant, and applies to that part of the Brook walk today.
It was taken shortly after the regular grass-cutting contractors had completed their first cut of the season. Unfortunately that section of the Brook Walk retains water, and even today, after comparatively small amounts of rainfall, the section in question is still damp and soft. Contractors are in a difficult position-they are tasked to cut areas of grassland, regardless of weather conditions or the state of the ground.
However, as the grass-cutting team makes use of a smaller, more manoeuvrable machine, wouldn’t it be better if they utilised the lighter machine in that area?
Regrettably, that first cut also was quite a severe one. Local people are quite used to seeing the uncut ‘triangle’ of ground between the footbridge and the entrance to the Railway Walk, but there are areas bordering the Brook margins that have been previously been left uncut, in order to create an intermediate ‘growing zone’ between mown grassland and woodland.
The reason for this? To encourage the growth of plants that favour slightly sheltered environs, and in turn, these encourage small eco-systems to develop, attracting different species of butterflies for example. Last year, we witnessed a few examples of Cuckoo Flower / Lady’s Smock ( scientific name-Cardamine Pratensis. Please click on this link to see an example.)
These were to be found growing in amongst these margins. However, as the time rapidly approaches when these flowers usually become visible, their growing areas have been mistakenly cut back this year.
