Wom Brook Blog

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.

In May, inspectors from the Green Flag award scheme surveyed the whole of the Wom Brook Walk from Rushford Bridge, close to where the Brook enters Wombourne in the east, to where it leaves the village in the west, at the edge of Poolhouse.

This formed part of the annual inspection process, and it is hoped that the village should learn soon the result of that inspection.

(Members of the inspection team are photographed above.)

Access points which allow walkers to see the Brook from various points along the pathway during the spring and summer have recently been cut along sections of the stream running through the centre of Wombourne.

Certain species of wild flowers and known water vole nesting sites  have deliberately been left uncut.

The photograph above was taken looking downstream (west) from the picnic benches. To the right of the photo, the normal height of the vegetation can be seen (averaging 30 cm in height).

Painters (above) tackling the renovation work planned by the District Council earlier this year.

One of the above gentleman stated that a member of his family recalls the time when the same footbridge was painted yellow!

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.

Local wildlife photographer and film maker Richard Claxton took this photo of a kingfisher.
At the time, Richard was hoping to film water voles, and fortunately had a camera to hand to capture this elusive creature-rarely seen along the Wom Brook, and then only fleetingly, as a vivd blue streak.

South Staffordshire Council are responsible for maintaining the footbridges crossing the Wom Brook. Road bridges however come under the jurisdiction of Staffordshire County Council.

We have been informed by the South Staffordshire Council’s Architectural and Landscape Services that the pedestrian bridge that lies parallel to the Gravel Hill Road bridge will soon receive a coat of paint and decking.

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.

January 2010 Tree Management

Below is a section of the Wom Brook Walk which passes close to the Giggetty.

This photograph shows the importance of regular management of the trees and bushes that border the Wom Brook Walk.  The Brook (not shown in this photograph) lies to the left of picture, and the view is looking west, downstream towards the Giggetty footbridge.

Due to the encroaching bush on the right of the footpath, walkers have gradually worn a path to the left of the original track, in order to avoid the rampant growth.

South Staffordshire Council,  in consultation with the Friends of Wom Brook have identified several sections of footpath requiring remedial work such as the example photographed above. Within the next few months, such sections of the Walk will be restored.

An ever increasing number of molehills are appearing along the Wom Brook Walk.  Members of the Friends of Wom Brook are receiving complaints from other residents of Wombourne who are concerned about the rise in the number of molehills, which are causing green spaces to assume an appearance of an organism infected with measles!

The situation is being made worse when some dogs attempt to burrow into the fresh soil in pursuit of the errant moles.Consequently the surface of the ground in such places is developing pot holes.

The Friends Group have reported the issue to South Staffordshire Council.