25th September 2016 – Flatford Mill

Time for the annual mud bath once again! Despite our efforts last year, the reed mace in the mill pond at Flatford has grown back rapidly over the past month or so, meaning that we had plenty to clear on this task. There was no shortage of volunteers to put on the waders, and some didn’t even bother with waterproofing!

The pond may look fairly deep, but underneath the surface lays a deep layer of silt that has built up over many years, meaning that walking through the water is actually really quite hard work, and it’s easily possible to get stuck, as one or two found out! Jess worked out the best method of moving around – slither on top of the silt!

We definitely added an extra dimension to the day for many tourists who were not expecting to see the famous Haywain scene covered in bodies in and out of the water, and I think many were fascinated to see the work being done to keep the view looking good.

As well as the pond, a good deal of weeding was done in the dry dock (separate photos courtesy of Lindsey), and also cutting back of the hedge further round past Willie Lott’s house.

Well done everyone for your hard work on this task. It can clearly been seen from the photos the difference you made today, and it was definitely appreciated by the National Trust team at Flatford as well as visitors over the coming year.

[supsystic-gallery id=6]