Watts Lane

BACKGROUND

Stan Botchway got in touch with us because he was having difficulty keeping the stretch of stream outside his property clear of vegetation.

During discussions on site, Stan mentioned that the levels of water in this part of the stream were much lower than they had been over the last 30 years. Stan and Lesley remembered their children playing poo sticks in the stream, which would now not be possible with the current low flow.

It’s very difficult to tell exactly what had caused the lowering of the water levels – there must have been some changes to the underground aquifers which feed the spring at Watts Lane, perhaps due to abstraction or development elsewhere in the catchment.

Glen explained that the water levels being lower had allowed some terrestrial vegetation to grow in the stream. However, this wasn’t a problem, as the plants wouldn’t block the flow or cause flooding, and in fact provide a brilliant habitat for wildlife such as small mammals and friendly insects.

While we were talking we spotted the very rare and elusive water shrew diving off a log to hunt for food!

ACTIVITY

Stan decided not to remove the vegetation in future, and was considering planting some native wildlife seeds and bulbs (like snakehead fritillary) on the grass verge outside their house to provide nectar for pollinating insects.