The scary and the dangerous part...

In last week's blog I took you all to the source of the Winterbourne stream that runs into the Ouse in Railway Land Nature Reserve via several short videos posted on my Instagram account and promised to show you the scary dangerous section but at the last minute I thought it might be best not to mention it to the general public but save it for subscribers to my website and blogs. Here it is;

So, what to do, if anything? I have to say that I have seen this plant all over Britain and very few instances recorded of folk being affected and there is little that can be done to either eradicate or protect it from being disturbed except perhaps to extend the fence on the left here? If anyone fell in or, in the low water summer months, children perhaps paddled about in there for fun the damaged stems of the Water Dropwort would cause a lot of poison to go down stream, which brings me neatly to the next subject I wanted to tell you about.

Extraordinary News about The river Ouse.

Some of you will know already but for those who don't; the Sussex river Ouse and all it's flora and fauna has been approved by local and central government, to be give the same legal status as a human being! This is the first in Britain and only the eighth, I believe, in the world. It takes about 2 years to write this into law and there after it means that if one knowingly poisons the river or creatures therein or dependant upon it, the punishment may be the same as knowingly poisoning a fellow human i.e. the punishment may be a personable offence.

Grants are also available to re-wild the Ouse valley with flora and fauna , some of which will be appropriately reintroducing creatures that once inhabited this area but were driven to extintion such as Beavers, European Bison, common Stalks etc.

In the meanwhile, if you would like to keep updated or to contribute some of your time and /or knowledge, you might like to join a free WhatsApp group called the 'Wild Ouse Network' which is made up of like minded individuals including complete beginners, already established groups, experts in various fields, scientist and layers etc. etc.

There are a lot of talks and meetings going on too;

At Barcoombe village Hall Sat' 27th Jan - A line up of exciting talks, no tickets, just turn up.

11am An introduction to the Ouse by the Ouse and Adur rivers trust

11.55am Rights for the River Ouse by Lewes based 'Love our Ouse'

1.30pm Fishes of the Ouse by Angler Stewart Allum

2.10 South East Water Catchment Management by S E Water

3.10 Barcoombe river people - Past and

I hope to see you there, and, if I me be so bold? If anyone might be able to give me a lift I would be most grateful as I cant drive or barely walk at the moment as I have a hip and knee on the same leg that need replacing.

Kind regards and best wishes. Steve