Himalayan Balsam in the Churnet Valley – Work Parties 2013
In addition to the regular monthly work party dates for July and August, two additional dates were allocated to pulling up Himalayan Balsam in the Churnet Valley this year.
On Thursday 27 th June, volunteers from IWA, Caldon & Uttoxeter Canals Trust and the
Churnet Valley Railway met at Consall Station in the Churnet Valley. They were supported by the Canal & River Trust in the form of Volunteer Leader, Stuart Collins, and his aluminium trailable boat. Among the volunteers were three local high school students who had recently finished their GCSE exams and were happy to have something to do at the start of their long summer holidays. One team set off in the boat to pull out all the Himalayan
Balsam that was growing out of the bank of the canal downstream of Consall Station all the way to Flint Mill Lock, while the rest of the volunteers tackled the Balsam that was growing out of the thin strip of land between the canal and the railway between those two points. The first (upstream) stretch had only small outcrops of Himalayan Balsam, so this was all pulled up and removed from those areas, filling 5 black sacks. Further downstream the Balsam was so extensive that the volunteers progressed to slashing it. It was noted that the plants were not as well advanced as they were on the first work party last year, at the same time of year, perhaps because of the cold weather in the spring.
Thursday 11 th
July saw the second Himalayan Balsam bashing work party on the Caldon
Canal. The work party met at Froghall and a group of ten volunteers spent the day balsam bashing and also painting the two mileposts on this stretch of canal. Volunteers on the day ranged in age from 6 to 60 plus and included boaters on holiday and one volunteer on holiday from California. All spent an enjoyable day pulling Himalayan Balsam and the younger volunteers particularly enjoyed squashing the stems, demonstrating that this type of work party really is suitable for all ages. Many thanks to all the volunteers who turned up for the day and some considerable distance of towpath and surrounding area was cleared of Balsam.
On Thursday 1st August volunteers met at Basford Bridge, Cheddleton, to work upstream towards Cheddleton Locks . The volunteers were pleased to discover that there was considerably less Himalayan Balsam along this stretch compared to last year. After lunch the volunteers worked in the other direction, pulling up all the Himalayan Balsam between
Basford Bridge and the new visitor moorings (recently installed by CRT), leaving this stretch of canal relatively clear of the plant.
On 11th August volunteers met at Consall Forge on the river section of the Caldon Canal, and worked upstream towards Oakmeadowford Lock. This was the third year of pulling up
Himalayan Balsam along this stretch, and it was encouraging to note how little there was along the sections that had been tackled previously.
CRT’s aluminium trailable boat was brought along to three of the four sessions by Volunteer
Leader, Stuart Collins, and this provided an invaluable aid to getting at the plants that were growing out of the waters edge and growing on the non-towpath side. Much Himalayan
Balsam remains on the offside along the river section, and plans for using a larger work boat are being considered for next year.
A feature of all four of the work parties pulling up Himalayan Balsam in the Churnet Valley this year has been the wide age range, with youngsters attending all four sessions. The age range over the four sessions went from six to seventy plus. All the volunteer hours from this

year’s Himalayan Balsam work parties will count towards the Churnet Valley Living
Landscape’s Big Pull project.