SCRUB BASHING AT STONELEES

Saturday was spent clearing scrub at Stonelees with KWT Volunteers to return the area to Ancient Duneland Pasture.

The weather was kind to us and a large area was cleared of Hawthorn and Rosebay Willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium) In Britain the plant was considered a rare species in the 18th century,and one confined to a few locations with damp, gravelly soils. It was mis-identified as Great Hairy Willowherb in contemporary floras. The plant's rise from local rarity to widespread weed seems to have occurred at the same time as the expansion of the railway network, and the associated soil disturbance. The plant became locally known as bombweed due to its rapid colonization of bomb craters in the second world war.

SOME OF THE KWT VOLUNTEERS

BURNING SCRUB STONELEES

CLEARING SCRUB STONELEES

VOLUNTEERS CLEARING SCRUB

COOLING TOWERS & HIGHLAND CATTLE STONELEES