Wom Brook Blog

The above photo was taken while members of the Friends group worked to clear weeds and undergrowth, threatening to choke and overgrow the plant species recently supplied by the South Staffordshire Council, and planted in place mainly by the Friends of Wom Brook’s chairman!
To the left of the photo the Brook is just visible.

The South Staffordshire District Council have consistently supported Brook clean-up events, and the work being undertaken on the patch of waste ground close to the veterinary surgery on Rookery Road is yet another example of the support and co-operation that continues to be developed between both parties.

Council workers are becoming familiar with the locations where ongoing conservation work is underway, so much so that on Monday morning this week, the usual driver who regularly delivers the skip was convinced that it was required at the picnic site near Gravel Hill, instead of the Mill Lane car park.

The driver himself soon rectified the misunderstanding, when he realised that he’d delivered to the wrong location. He soon returned, and relocated the skip, allowing clearing work to get underway.

Between Rookery Road (opposite the veterinary surgery) and the Wom Brook, where the footbridge crosses the Brook close to the Guide Hut, there is a patch of waste ground (arrowed in red in the above photograph), which is included within the general conservation area overseen by the South Staffordshire Council and the Friends of Wom Brook Group.
At last Tuesday’s monthly committee meeting, it was decided to form a working party in order to complete the sterling work already undertaken by the Chairman, Anita Ferguson, in clearing space to plant wild flowers. Already these flowers (which have replaced nettles and grasses), have attracted several species of insects.
The District Council should be providing a half skip in order to collect the cleared undergrowth. This will be located temporarily on the car park at the rear of the Guide hut.

Tomorrow night (6th June 2006) is the June Committee Meeting date.
It will be held in the Wombourne Parish Council Chambers (pictured above) at 7:30 p.m., and is due to finish at 9:00 p.m.
These meetings are usually held on the first Tuesday in the month. The group also meets regularly on the first Saturday morning and the first Thursday morning each month, from 10:00 a.m. till midday, in order to undertake conservation work along the Brook.
If you can spare a bit of free time, and want to make a valuable contribution to maintaining and enhancing the main public open space that runs the whole length of Wombourne, then please come along and join in with the Friends Group.

This spring has seen a veritable explosion of hawthorn blossom
seemingly in most rural areas adjoining the Wom Brook area. On a recent trip
along the M 40 to within 20 miles of London, the same appeared to be true of
most rural areas, particularly the hedgerows bordering fields.

The above photo was taken looking south along the Railway Walk, towards the
Brook.
Hawthorn ( scientific name – Crataegus mongyna) is a deciduous
tree (loses its leaves in the autumn), that produces distinctive white blossom
between May and June, and red berries (haws) in the autumn.
Its distinctive thorns help protect seedlings of other trees, and deter livestock
from damaging hedges bordering fields. It can live for 250 years, and grow up
to altitudes of 500m above sea level.