The first frost of the season showed itself on the morning of the 2nd of December! As you are probably aware this is very late for a first “proper” frost and many of our garden plants are still in flower because of the mild weather.
Furthermore, here are some lovely frost scenes taken around the Wombrook area:
As Autumn is upon us and Winter not too far away, the trees shed their leaves in vibrant oranges and reds. The picture below was taken a few weeks ago at the Friends of Wombrook “Nature’s Bounty” event, the towering poplar can be seen behind, shining with vibrant hues. (I can only presume it to be even more vibrant now as the weeks have passed!)
Any thoughts on the coming winter? Leave a comment, there is a mixed consensus as to whether the weather will be cold and snowy or wet and windy.
Although it was sad to see the original willow pruned (pictured above, slightly right of centre, resembling a tall bush), it had become vastly overgrown, and was at risk of some of its larger branches breaking off during high winds.
It is no exaggeration that a large falling branch, weighing half a ton, crashing to the ground as you walk by is a sobering experience, and one not to be recommended!
South Staffordshire Council occasionally face hard choices-either manage the trees along the Wom Brook Walk in the interests of safety, or leave them to go wild, and run the risk of an innocent walker passing beneath an overgrown tree being seriously injured by one of its falling branches.
Before the advent of central heating and double glazing, in past centuries Willow trees growing along the Brook were regularly managed by the residents of Wombourne who harvested them in order to heat their homes and provide fuel for cooking.
Although no longer at their best, there are still a few poppies to be seen growing along the Wom Brook Walk. The one above was photographed amongst tall grasses and ragwort in the fallow area below the point where the Railway Walk crosses the Wom Brook Walk. It is a reminder of one of those rare, warm sunny days experienced earlier in the year!
The Friends of Wom Brook met on Saturday morning in an attempt to tackle the problem of the ever-spreading Himalayan Balsam which is choking sections of the Wom Brook, particularly along the Rookery Road section.
Such was the magnitude of the task facing the Friends Group, that after filling some 40 black bin bags with Balsam, further uprooted plants had to be left at the side of the Wom Brook Walk, for South Staffordshire Council’s Landscape Department to remove later this week.
In the above photo, taken at one part of the Rookery Road section of the Wom Brook Walk, the area marked in green (numbered 1) indicates a section of the southern bank cleared on Saturday morning. The area marked in blue (numbered 2) points to the actual Brook, and finally in red (3), one of the piles of uprooted Himalayan Balsam.
Harsh as the current view of this once splendid willow is, South Staffordshire Council were faced with the unenviable decision to drastically prune this tree. Expert tree surgeons were engaged to assess its condition, which upon closer examination revealed some dead areas.
The tree had already lost a large branch during one period of gale force winds a few years back. As the tree is located at a popular junction along the Wom Brook Walk, where the footpath crosses the Wom Brook and ascends towards the South Staffordshire Railway Walk, the risk assessment deduced that the willow had become too large to be safe for pedestrians passing beneath it.
Historically, willows were harvested during pre-industrial times, and following the advent of the Industrial Revolution, they were a source of fuel Wombourne villagers would utilise for cooking and heating purposes. Consequently, willows at the turn of the nineteenth and early twentieth century were kept to a manageable size, and did not present as quite a potential hazard to those walking beneath them.
The last two or three weeks along the Wom Brook have seen an upsurge in plant growth. Accompanying this has been a welcome introduction of early flowering plants, following in the footsteps of the hardier snow drops and crocuses. In particular white, yellow and blue flowers have appeared along the banks of the Brook.
Colonies of Forget-me-nots (pictured above) add a distinctive blanket of blue amongst the longer grasses adjacent to the trees.
For safety reasons, trees along the Wom Brook require pruning at certain times. In the above example, mentioned in a previous Wom Brook Blog entry (please click on the link below, entitled ‘January 2010 Tree Management) , drivers approaching the junction along the eastern end of Common Road, adjoining Gravel Hill were unable to clearly see vehicles descending from Gravel Hill towards the junction during the spring and summer months, due to the dense leaf foliage on the lower branches of this oak tree obscuring their view.
Tree surgeons contracted by South Staffordshire Council have removed some of those lower branches, which should increase visibility for drivers, and thus reduce the risk of accidents.
These spring flowers were photographed near the picnic benches, along the Wom Brook Walk.
In previous years, far more crocuses would have been observed at this time of year, but like the daffodils, their appearance this year is later due to the colder temperatures endured here in Wombourne over the last couple of months.
Resembling lanterns of white light, these snowdrops have appeared on the northern bank of the Wom Brook, close to the Bow footbridge that runs parallel to Gravel Hill in Wombourne. They are easily spotted-the brilliant white of their flowers standing out from the predominant browns and greens that surround them, but which fail to envelope or smother them.