Update from the Commons
So far, the weather seems to have changed with the year and things have started to dry out a little and it looks as though we have some dry, cold weather ahead. This is perhaps bad news for the Woodpecker that I was watching today as he drummed like mad to attract a mate but good news for us, allowing us to finally get on with the work that has been building up because of the sodden ground.
The gales over the Christmas period left us with some fallen trees to remove and damaged ones to repair, although not as many as I feared but I want to get on with our programme to push the woodland edges from the roads that cross the Commons.There are also some trees that need to be removed for because of potential subsidence claims and the two clearance projects to get on with that I mentioned last month.
Quite a lot of work really and I can see us being in a race against time again to get things finished before the birds start to nest; all this and a Yeti to deal with as well.
No sign of disease on our ash trees as yet though, so that is a relief. One good thing if we do get this cold dry spell, we will finally be able to carry out remedial work to the ground around BrightonLake and at Sunnyside Rd.
There has been much attention on Rusthall Common recently, with rumours of dogs being poisoned whilst walking there. I first about this just before Christmas when I was told that six dogs had already died after visiting the Common and that this was possibly the result of a deliberate campaign targeting pets. However, when I tried to find out more, I came up with little in the way of hard facts. I was told of one case of a dog dying after picking up something on the Common in September but that was all, and the local vet knew of no more cases, although they too had heard the rumours.
Whilst any case is very sad, this does point to any deliberate act; I would hate to think that anyone would do anything so despicable. Obviously, we will be monitoring the situation carefully and will pass on any information we have via our website www.twcommons.org but in the meantime, whilst we should all be careful when walking our dogs anywhere, I can see no reason to avoid Rusthall Common.
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