Reevy Mill Dam

Captain Brass took able charge of the boat again today. Together with the enthusiastic assistance of David they managed to retrieve the accumulated litter from the water whilst others worked around the edge and in the grassy areas. Thanks to the Clean Team for collecting the rubbish.

We also cut and raked the grass, to benefit the wildflowers and cut back branches around the pathway.

8 volunteers

Reevy Mill Dam Fri 5th June 2009

Today the group split to carry out work at two sites. In the morning one group carried out the finishing touches to the path and steps at the BEES Urban Nature Reserve. This was in readiness for the Breathing Places Open weekend. The end result looked very nice.

The rest of the group returned to Reevy Mill Dam and carried out work to install a bench, we now have three on site, litter collection and repairs to the footpath. There was sad news that a number of the fish had died at the pond, which is being investigated by the Council's Drainage Team and we reported it to the Environment Agency who suggested that the cause may be from lack of oxygen. But good news is that a pair of Canadian Geese have raised a brood of chicks, and appear to be developing well. Which was not surprising given the number of people who came to feed them during the course of the day.

I was pleasantly surprised to see so many people taking an interest in the wildlife at the pond. This is rewarding news for the volunteers who look after the site and for thanks for our 7 volunteers today.

See more photos of the day here and here 

clearing the path

Today our group was joined by a group of young people from Prince's Trust and there was 26 people on site. Together we were able to make a real difference to the site and completed the task of stripping the overgrown turf from the path. We also carried out litter collecting, cutting the grass and pruning overhanging branches. This sets us up very well for next week when we will overlay a new surface and hope to complete the path improvement work.

Today we worked with 15 volunteers and 9 young people from Prince's Trust

Click here for other photos of the day.

Keeping the path clearToday we made our annual trip on to the water to collect the litter which accumulates; this included traffic signs and plastic bottles. We also carried out our other annual job of cutting the grassed areas using the autoscythe and hand scythes, as well as the regular job of keeping the pathways open and collecting litter.

Today we worked with 18 volunteers.

Click here to see other photos of the day.

The task today was mainly to cut and rake off the grass areas of the site. This will allow the grasses and wildflowers a chance to grow again next year and provide useful habitat for the insects and birds that visit the site. The grass was cut with the autoscythe and then raked off with hay rakes and taken to site edges with pitch forks. We also organised the boat to be on site and this gave us a chance to clear litter from the reeds around the edges of the pond. Two brave and willing souls braved the vessel and the elements and set off for the unknown. The journey revealed a surprising amount of debris like shed panels and footballs, which had to be carefully manoeuvred to get out of the water. Another job that we undertook was cutting back of the overhanging braches along the roadside. At the end of the day the site was looking very different to when we started.

Today we worked with 8 volunteers.

Click here to see other photos of the day.

This is the annual cut of the grassland, plus clean out of the pond using the BEES boat in the pond to reach the parts of the pond that we cannot reach from the banks and general path maintenance.

Reevy Mill Dam is a former mill pond located in Buttershaw where Reevy Road and Reevy Avenue meet. It is now owned by the Council and managed for the benefit of people and wildlife by BEES.

6 volunteers and 2 members of staff were involved in todays task and we carried out the annual cut of the meadow area. The grass and wildflowers are allowed to grow throughout the year to provide a habitat for animals like frogs and provide food for insects like butterflies. The grass is then cut and raked in a similar method to hay meadow management the same plants will grow again because they have sown seed and the soil fertility kept as they require:

Plus litter picking over the whole site and excitingly we sailed the BEES rowing boat (named HMS Litter Picker) and collected refuse that had been stuck in the reeds for a long time.

The site looked much improved at the end of the task and this was commented on by one of the neighbours. We are grateful to the Council's Clean Team who took away all the refuse we collected namely 15 bin bags of litter, various road signs, a chair, fire extinguishers and road barriers.

Thanks to everyone that took part.

Today we will be working with a group of volunteers from HBOS Building Society to repair and resurface the path around the pond.

If you wish to volunteer today please phone the office to confirm details.

Fishing for litter

 Today we once again combined with the Prince's Trust team, which gave us a good number of people on site. This meant that we were able to take the boat on to the pond to carry out some much needed litter clearance around the edges. It seems that not only was there litter that had been blown into the pond by the wind but we removed road signs and toys that must of been trown in. We also managed to get a good amount of the resurfacing work completed and was pleased with the result after the wacker plate had been driven over. 

Today we worked with 22 volunteers. 

Other photos of the day and the site can be viewed by clicking here. 

We were joined by a group of employees from Santander. This was a good thing as we had to cut the meadow areas by hand using our scythes and sickles. But the group was not overawed in fact the Santander employees enthused about not having to answer a phone all day. The majority of the people on site were either; cutting, raking, stacking or mowing the vegetation for the day and we disturbed many frogs from the grass, they will be able to find more shelter in the remaining long grass. We took the boat as well and were able to collect the litter, other general rubbish and fishing line that had made its way into the pond over the year since we last did it. Putting on the waders it was possible to clear the litter from the edges too. The Moorhens and Cotes will be grateful not to share their home with so much rubbish in future. The path edges and the perimeter hedges were given a cut back and this will make it easier to move around the site.
A very worthwhile day, that has prepared the site for the forthcoming months and our thanks to the Santander employees for their help.

Today we worked with 20 volunteers.

Click here to see other photos of the day.