Wom Brook Blog

Thanks to the sharp eyes of the finger post’s sculptor, the top half was recovered from the bushes beside a section of the Wombrook. However, the owl was missing. Thankfully the sculptor was able to carve a faithful reproduction, and at certain times of the day, the new owl stands out from the original wood carving in the hole at the top of the finger post.

In the photo above, the back of the owl is shown (arrowed in red), along with the 2 dimensional aspect of the sign.The other side of the sign is a 3D representation, and shows the new owl and the remainder of the sign to particularly good effect.

Residents are positively enraged by the mindless damage to a local Wombourne landmark. The ornate and very symbolic wooden carved finger post which marks the crossing point between the Wombrook Walk and the South Staffordshire Railway Walk was discovered to have had it’s top half forcibly removed. (See red arrows indicating that the top half of the board was forced in one direction).

The original finger board was not only an example of an excellent wood carving, but it had been carefully produced following careful research into the local history, flora and fauna associated with the village of Wombourne. Carefully captured within its imagery was a representation of the endangered water vole, a protected mammal resident along the Wombrook.

Unfortunately a minority criminal element exists in the community, possessing little intelligence and contributing nothing but problems to it. The reader is left to imagine the level of punishment furious local villagers were suggesting should be given to the individuals responsible for the damage.

It is believed that the vandalism occurred sometime between Sunday 25th September and Thursday morning, 29th September. If you were walking in the vicinity during those dates, and saw something connected to this crime, please contact Staffordshire Police on 0300 123 4455.

Addmittedly the above image was taken before this year’s spring growth of vegetation began along the Wom Brook. However, although not a ‘current’ image, it emphasises how the effects of weathering-particularly the prolonged periods of sub-zero temperatures that were endured during January and February this year, damaged parts of the stream banks along the Wom Brook.

The water infusing the banks of the Brook froze, and the resultant physical expansion of the ice within the soil caused parts of the banks to detach and fall into theBrook. There are now at least two areas along the Gravel Hill section of the Wom Brook Walk where the banks of the Brook have started to encroach upon the Wom Brook Walk.

South Staffordshire Council’s Landscape Department have been alerted.

Away from the WomBrook Walk path, but visible from the first of the wooden benches downstream from the Gravel Hill picnic benches, a moss-covered concrete cylinder patiently awaits removal from the Brook. A legacy from World War II, this block, along with many others were manufactured as road obstacles, and used for slowing cars and lorries down by the Home Guard (and the regular Army) at vehicle check points during the last war.

At the end of hostilities, these blocks posed a disposal problem-instead of being recycled, they were collected together and buried close to the Brook. The recent cold weather has accelerated the process of soil erosion close to the stream bank, causing soil to break away from the buried blocks, eventually exposing this one and causing it to spill into the Brook.

With temperatures falling to -14.5 on Saturday night and 5 inches of snow, the country has been put into havoc. While we all realize that the weather has been bad for people wanting to commute, it’s easy to forget what effect it has on the local and national wildlife! The snow and ice make it very hard to find food for many animals. An example of this is the Kingfisher, which relies on running streams, brooks and other water sources to catch their meals, so they are obviously going to find  it difficult to stay fed when the brook is frozen. Again, feeding garden birds will make a big difference to there survival as said in the previous post.

Apart from the difficulties of finding food in these harsh conditions, they do make an already stunning area look even more beautiful. Here are a few pictures from the area around the Wombrook to illustrate.

A sign of possible good water quality found in the Wom Brook-the above photo taken recently shows a small section of the Brook that flows through Wombourne free of silt, sediment and mud.

This is soon to change  over the next few days with the forecasted rain set to fall and the ensuing run-off of rainwater into the Brook will wash into it, discolour and muddy its water.

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.

Rather belatedly, this is to confirm that the Wom Brook Walk has been awarded Green Flag status for a further year. Many thanks to local Wombourne residents who regularly collect litter, respect the local flora and fauna, the volunteers from the Friends of Wom Brook and the Architectural and Landscape Department at South Staffordshire Council for their continued work in developing the Walk.

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.)