On a wet, cold and windy day with the river running fast and high members of the Friends of The Carrs joined forces with Cheshire East Rangers and National Trust volunteers to carry our repair and maintenance work to the banks of the River Bollin.
The day began with repairing and extending the willow weaving on the areas of the river bank which the Environment Agency repaired last year.
The willow was taken from a tree that had fallen into the river some months ago so by cutting and using the shooting branches from this fallen tree it also meant the obstruction to the natural flow of the river was removed - two benefits for the price of one!
The willow planted last year was also pruned and the cuttings planted into the river bank to help consolidate the banks further.
In addition the working party repaired three new areas of river bank that had become badly eroded and planted willow to try and prevent further erosion. Some preparatory work was also undertaken on a further stretch of river bank in anticipation of more work, hopefully later in the year.
Plans to remove some large items of litter from the river were thwarted by the high water level and this will now have to be tackled later in the summer when the water level is lower.
Colin Shepherd, Chairman of The Friends of The Carrs said "Co-operation between the groups is growing and we are particularly grateful to the National Trust volunteers for joining us and helping to carry out this essential work.
"On the day the weather was not at all kind to us and the fortitude shown by those taking part and the amount of work they completed was remarkable. Despite the inclement weather we all enjoyed ourselves, even if some of us ached a bit afterwards".
The next event on The Carrs will be the first of the Balsam Bash days on Sunday May 20th when they will be pulling out the invasive Himalayan Balsam from the river banks and surrounding areas of The Carrs. Volunteers may also carry out some of the uncompleted jobs from last week's working party day.
Volunteers are most welcome for the Balsam Bash, they will be meeting at the Parish Hall at 2pm on May 20th. No particular skills are required.
