was
successfully held at
Caradoc, Nr Ross-on-Wye on Thursday 15th July 2010 by kind permission of
Major Patrick Darling.
Despite
the variable weather, it was a very enjoyable walk with good talks by a
variety of excellent speakers, including:
 |
Eric
Drummond, a leading Herefordshire farmer and horticulturist |
 |
Paul
Senior, Navigation Manager for the Wye and Lugg |
 |
Sarah
Olney, Natural England Conservation Adviser – Rivers Wye and
Lugg |
 |
David
Lovelace, Trust Member, Woodland Manager and Historian |
 |
Will
Watson, Herefordshire Ponds and Newts Project Consultant |
Here
are some pictures from the event:
looking
down towards Eric Drummond's fruit farm
David
Lovelace shows us the trees
Sarah
Olney tells us about the river bank and Paul Senior addresses us
while Patrick surveys the river and the swans serenely swim past
the constructions on the bank

Will
Watson and David Lovelace look for wild flowers
Surveying
the swans on the far bank, among the trees
and
intrusions of various kinds on either side,

while
cattle graze peacefully in front of Sellack Church.

Will
Watson prepared samples of the river life.

He
found a demoiselle nymph,

plentiful stone loaches,
a river bug (Aphelocheirus aestivalis),
as
well as some freshwater shrimp, several whirligig beetles, a great pond snail, a wandering snail, and common Bithynia (another snail). Mayfly, caddis and leech were also present in the samples but not identified

It
did rain a little, but we had a good time. Some returned to Caradoc by
tractor and trailer and others went by foot, and Patrick kindly invited
us into his warm dry dining room where we shared our picnics and good
cheer together to round off a very successful evening.