Can't see 'the water for the trees'

Dense patch of shading on Windrush

Downstream water vole heaven

Initial cuts reveal clear water

Joined GWT at one of my favourite sites today at Brassey on a stretch of the river Windrush  dividing the Hill and Aston farms. John led the team, on a 'remove the shading' task to please the water voles,  downstream of the Brassey reserve. This was a continuation of the work carried out on a stretch of the river Windrush  which included the watercress beds. Given the water levels waders was the order of the day for most of us plus an ability to clear the barb wire fence protecting the riverside from cattle erosion. On Gold cup day at Cheltenham we were blessed with some fine, warm sunny weather. Although previous work had cleared long stretches of overhanging branches the 3 man team I joined had a stretch which was pretty dense. With saw in hand I waded out to attack the willow overshading the water and in spite of a lengthy layoff from this physical work I soon got into a rhythm and gradually made a dent  in the branches revealing the water underneath. It was satisfying to get my feet wet again in one of the river systems here in the Cotswolds. As a bonus the waders I used were free of leaks and the only slight negative was the trudge back up the hilly slope where we had parked the cars.