Sunny summer days, accompanied by the resultant rise in temperature usually encourage bees and butterflies to visit flowers to collect nectar. The above photo was taken on the uncut triangle of field leading up from the Wom Brook to the South Staffordshire Railway Walk.
Naturalists are concerned about the declining numbers of bees across the UK. They believe that a combination of factors are responsible for this decline-disease, prolonged wet weather, and a decline in wild flowers.
The Friends of Wom Brook, working closely with the Landscape Department at South Staffordshire Council are monitoring uncut areas along the Wom Brook Walk, and have recorded several species of bees and butterflies regularly feeding on the thistle and ragwort plants.
The decision taken by South Staffordshire Council, working with the Friends Group, in not cutting certain areas of the Walk has certainly encouraged and increase in insect activity in the area.
So what? Why does this matter? Bees and other flying insects that go from flower to flower pollinate food crops and thus ensure a continuous cycle of plant growth. There’s also a tasty bi-product-honey.
Bees in particular are vital to UK food crop production-therefore all that can be done to promote the well-being of our bee species is essential in terms of maintaining our food crops-hence the need to maintain uncut sections along the Wom Brook.
Those of you familiar with the story of Noah’s Ark will recall that the rainbow was a message from God to Noah that the rainfall was at an end.
Last week, after a welcome period without rain, we received a day of prolonged showers. It ended with an evening rainbow-which was photographed from the Gravel Hill section of the Wom Brook Walk, looking in a south easterly direction.
It would be good to see another rainbow-otherwise we’ll have to be building our own arks, as yet again this August we seem to be plagued with more rainfall than sunshine.
This afternoon at Wombourne Civic Centre, South Staffordshire District Councillor Joan Williams hosted a short civic ceremony to celebrate the award of Green Flag status to the Wom Brook Walk.
Pictured below holding the national award are South Staffordshire Council’s Landscape manager Howard Medlicott, and Chairman of the Friends of Wom Brook, Anita Ferguson.
What is the significance of this award to Wombourne?
Essentially it is a nationally recognised standard of excellence awarded by a panel of judges to selected parks and green spaces. These awards are not easy to obtain-this is Wombourne’s second attempt at achieving green flag status. The award is also a recognition of the effort invested by a wide team of people-from the South Staffordshire Council to those individual inhabitants of Wombourne who have no allegiance to any particular group, who regularly collect litter whilst out on their daily walk, or in the case of a small dedicated teenage section of the Friends of Wom Brook, regularly join the Friends Group for two hours once a month to remove rubbish from the Brook.
Thank you everyone for your efforts.
Link to the Green Flag website
A number of Wombourne villagers have asked about the brief appearance of black plastic bin sacks at the start of most months, usually by the Gravel Hill entrance to the Wom Brook Walk.
These are usually full of discarded rubbish-empty drinks cans, plastic bottles and discarded paper etc. They will have been filled by the small group of volunteers known as the Friends of Wom Brook, from the rubbish deposited in and around the Wom Brook and its adjoining walk.
However, this month the black bin bags have been filled with a ‘rogue’ species of plant-Himalayan Balsam. Left unattended, this plant can quickly overgrow other plants.
The Friends of Wom Brook undertake these voluntary duties on the first Thursday and Saturday in each month, usually throughout the year. Further volunteers who could spare from 10 a.m.-midday would be most welcome to join the group. They meet at the picnic benches.
South Staffordshire Council’s Landscape Department kindly remove the bags.