The plan was to travel downstream and, potentially, work on both banks and from the water.

However, the best made plans and all that! Dudley had done a good job on any visible pennywort actually in the river. The farmer had installed an electric fence along part of the field on the bank opposite the towpath. The hope had been that this would stop the animals in the field trampling pennywort into the muddy bank and thus stop it taking root. Ironically it seemed that there was less pennywort where there was no electric fence and where the cattle had cleared the vegetation up to the water. The electric fence had stopped the cattle clearing the vegetation immediately beside the water and pennywort was seen growing healthily between the reeds.

With Plan A defunct the group decided to adopt Plan B and return upstream to deal with some of the vegetation hanging intro the Navigation. Some of the group decided to adopt Plan C which potentially involved a visit to the nearest pub.

Sadly, we had no sacks to collect rubbish so one member of our party was left extremely disappointed. However, moving further upstream again it didn’t take long for our volunteers to find useful work to do – watercress and more overhanging and under-poking vegetation.

What might have seemed like a short job was far from it – the more the branches were cut back the more obstructions were revealed. Saws, loppers and the rope were used to cut half-submerged trees from the bank and the engine of the Raider was severely tested in terms of its power to tow heavy loads across to the other side in order that our remaining volunteers could cut the wood into manageable-sized pieces, pull it fully ashore and dispose of it in the undergrowth.

Again, a productive session. The good news was that we could find no pennywort growing in the river. The bad news is that there is still plenty in the bankside vegetation and we will need to work hard to keep it under control when it starts growing later in the year.

William headed off to collect volunteers at Beeleigh while Neil collected the Raider at Hoe Mill and dropped it down through the lock in readiness for work on the Hoe to Ricketts section (again, the Raider had been excellently prepared by Steve, the Residential Caretaker). Sadly, having commented in the Round Robin email giving details of the session, that Hoe was often more popular than Beeleigh, no one turned up at Hoe Mill! The Raider was returned to its mooring and all efforts were put into work above Beeleigh Lock.

There was plenty to do (which is maybe why the volunteers seen here don’t look like they are having as much fun as we thought they were!)

(There was, incidentally, no outright winner to the ‘best hat’ competition!)

The aim of the work-party was to assess the current pennywort situation, remove any rubbish and cut back the most serious of the overhanging vegetation. There was no shortage of the latter.

The refreshment break was well-earned and, as usual, an adequate supply of tasty morsels was available to satisfy even the most greedy of the work-party participants.

And of course, we are always fastidious about the cleanliness of our refreshment boxes!

After the break the five enthusiasts continued to cut, and take ashore, more willow that was blocking the river (and would be catching the pennywort).

Three of the group had to leave early to attend to other commitments. The remaining two participants reconnoitred both banks between Beeleigh and Ricketts Locks, including the first 100m of the Ricketts weir stream. With watercress and American Pennywort looking somewhat similar at this time of year it was difficult to determine exactly how much (or how little) pennywort there is on this section. It would seem that there is very little, but a spell of warm weather can promote rapid weed growth and we imagine that our June work-party (the first of our Wednesday evening summer sessions) might provide us with a number of challenges. Time will tell!

Working from the water necessitated having a vessel to work from, and having it available on time. This involved William valiantly volunteering to bring the Raider up from its usual mooring at Paper Mill. Supported by extra fuel supplies provided by Sue he made good progress on Friday afternoon/evening in getting the Raider upriver to Springfield.

This meant that on Saturday morning four trusty souls, having collected gloves, bags and litter-pickers, could set off in search of litter.

In fact not a lot of searching was required as the litter on the bank, in the bank and on and in the water was fairly obvious. Clearly the good folk of Chelmsford (and further upstream) are a thirsty lot as there were many cans and bottles waiting to be picked up. Although we didn't think it was Ronald himself, Mr McDonald's customers had obviously chosen the automatic-water-assisted-litter-disposal-system, rather than litter bins, to get rid of their rubbish. Our thanks go out to them for giving us several hours' worth of pleasant litter picking.

We were encouraged to sort the litter into that which could be recycled and that which couldn't (hence the white and black bags).

With the Raider almost full we returned to base to off-load about eight bagsful of recyclable litter and four of (mainly) polystyrene. The mid-morning refreshments were welcomed, and good, but the general agreement was that we preferred Miriam's style of hot crossed buns!

Back to work and as the morning wore on, and maybe indicating something about the minds of our four volunteers in the boat, some of the items of rubbish we were collecting helped us develop our own 'Tale of the Riverbank'. First there was the rucsac and later a complete set of men's shaving equipment; next, several empty bottles of alcohol, then some items of women's clothing and a (deflated) lilo. The tale was coming together. A contact lens fluid bottle (couldn't she see him clearly without her lenses?). More empty bottles and then, yes, a packet of condoms with one remaining unused. More alcohol. Was this where it ended and would there be a sequel? Eventually more clues were there for all to see. An empty jar of baby food and then (and its always there) the Tesco trolley with not just one but TWO baby seats! The End!

With thirteen more miles of River downstream, but only a few minutes remaining, we felt we had done all we could for one morning. In total our volunteers collected about twelve bags of recyclable litter, four of non-recyclable litter, just the one trolley (although we counted many more collected on the bank further upstream), the cabinet and motor of a fridge, the deflated inflatable boat, four footballs, numerous tennis balls and materials for several more Riverbank Tales!

Adequate preparation is the key to getting work parties off to good starts. Russ, Alan, Terry and John looked after getting boats in place, and thanks go to Roy, Sue, Steve, Colin and Ewan for playing their parts in getting engines and fuel ready for us and towing boats, and to Miriam and Dave for the supplies of refreshments.

The task at Paper Mill was to try to bring order to some logs which some less-than-kind souls had seen fit to distribute in the river and around the bank. These were tidied and banded together in an attempt to keep them consolidated.

On completion of this much-needed task this group of three (including the Chairperson and Director of Essex Waterways, Roy Chandler) spent the rest of their time above Little Baddow Lock picking up litter from the fringes of the Navigation. An impressive five bags of rubbish were collected (but why, say some of us, was there that much litter there in the first place?).

Such was the enthusiasm of this group that they forgot (yes, FORGOT) to stop for a refreshment break despite being provided with not just one, but TWO, sets of refreshments! There is more work to be done further upstream where, it is reported, there is even more litter awaiting removal (either by a further work party or by high winds and further rainfall).

Meanwhile a lone canoeist patrolled the stretch of the Navigation below Paper Mill Lock, ensuring that as much of the Navigation as possible is kept clear of American Pennywort at a time of year when control is possible.

Four volunteers in the Raider and another four volunteers in three canoes meant there was an impressive workforce to deal with some of the most troublesome bankside vegetation which catches weed which would otherwise float by.

Despite the problems of removing blackthorn and brambles, both of which have sharp thorns (especially difficult for those canoeists with fingerless gloves), necessary work was done removing a large amount of problematic overhanging vegetation, with only one clump having to be left due to insufficient time.

The Raider travelled all the way down to the cut running in to Ricketts Lock and patrolled back up to Hoe Mill Lock, ably supported by the canoeists. This flexibility of water-based removal methods maximises on the effective work that can be done.

Upstream from Beeleigh three more volunteers carried on with what had been started last month.

(there were only three of them but they needed their refreshments!)

A good time was had by all, with a range of tools, including loppers, machetes, bow saws and hand saws all being used to best advantage.

(before)	(after)

We had been led to believe that our longest serving and most dedicated weed-remover would not be with us on this particular work party. However, as we prepared to leave we spotted Dudley who had made serious inroads into outbreaks of pennywort in the Lower Blackwater, The Langford Cut and part of the Long Pond.

Another excellent morning’s work with impressive team efforts all round. The Work Boat, on its way back to Heybridge, got through the Beeleigh Flood Gates just in time – a high tide threatened to flow the ‘wrong’ way across the lower weir at Beeleigh and prevent the Gates (if they were doing their work) from being opened.

The workboat skippers were up and about early, getting engines on board and started, and getting the three boats in place. We were grateful that Essex Waterways were prepared to forego the use of their Paper Mill boat so that we could use it (and by doing so they also ensured that we could benefit from the excellent support of Steve, the residential caretaker at Hoe Mill).

At Paper Mill the volunteers, with three new people taking part, divided into two, with one group of five working from the Raider, while two trusty and experienced canoeists dealt with pennywort.

Much enthusiasm was shown by the six intrepid volunteers who braved the thick undergrowth and the sharp blackthorn spikes to make impressive inroads into the bankside 'overgrowth'

It was not long before our newest volunteers were showing their skills.

This group enjoyed themselves so much that they had a late refreshment break and got back to Paper Mill an hour later than planned!

The two canoeists braved the strong winds to battle up to Little Baddow Lock in search of pennywort. They found virtually nothing except for some in Sandon Brook. We know the reputation that these two have - and we suspect that they will be out on the water before the next Weedbusting session in April, ensuring that any rogue weed is taken care of.

Starting from Hoe Mill, with the Raider already dropped down through the lock, three volunteers set off to see what impact they could make on anything that would trap floating pennywort weed.

They ventured to one of our most problematic pennywort-traps downstream of Sugar Bakers - a willow tree that had fallen into the water. Almost an hour's work was needed to deal with this major obstacle before refreshments and further trimming of bank-side vegetation. So keen were these three that, like the Paper Mill group, a search party had to go out to find them unloading some of their spoil.

So, with the lock to be negotiated before the Raider could be returned it was a late return for this group too.

Meanwhile at Beeleigh two further volunteers, using the workboat which had been brought up from Heybridge Basin, made progress on some of the many willow branches dipping into the water.

Before	After

In fact the apparently easy task of lopping off the branches was made more difficult and required a more skilled approach due to the huge mats of root below the waterline.

Before	After

With what we thought was only sporadic outbreaks of Floating American Pennywort to deal with, the plan for the morning was to divide into two groups, one to deal with Pennywort in the Hoe Mill vicinity and the other to tackle a small amount of Pennywort in a stream near Ricketts Lock and then clear vegetation fringing the Navigation.

The 'Hoe Mill' group - 3 canoeists ably supported by two on the banks - started by tackling pennywort in the mill stream below the automatic weir above Hoe Mill. Even getting there was no mean feat, but once in position the group tackled the weed with great efficiency.

The second group had set off with enthusiasm as well

So it was onwards, and upwards, to deal with vegetation growing over and into the water, and providing a secure anchor for any passing pennywort. Was it something to do with having cold feet that this group ended up with a lady on the bank and three men in the boat?!

The task was significantly unpleasant. Members of this group soon found that the plants most likely to be causing pennywort-catching problems were brambles and blackthorn - and that there was a significant amount of that prickly vegetation along the non-towpath side.

Nevertheless, with not a few shouts of pain when jabbed through gloves and clothing by thorns, several boats full of wood were removed.

Reduced to three people after the refreshment break this group carried on regardless, with, often, only the sound of sawing and the odd expletive indicating that there was a person deep in the vegetation.

An impressive number of volunteers turned up at Sandford - 14 in all - not only to install Waymarking posts, but also to do just a bit more weed-removal.

Never having installed Waymarking posts before, installation of the first one was carried out with much discussion, a variety of points of view, and a fair amount of observation - but we soon perfected the technique and gradually reduced the number of observers and increased the number of labourers!

It seemed that this was one of those times when it was pleasant to stay as a group, enjoy the good weather, chat and install Waymakarking posts when ever we got to a location where one was planned.

By now the technique had been perfected and, having installed three posts, we were confident that we could install two more at Sandford and three more at Barnes Lock. We weren't too enthusiastic about the one planned for Stonhams Lock, it being so far away and with no easy way of accessing it. So we congratulated ourselves by returning to Sandford for an early refreshment break.

Being the committed and thorough group that we are, we had decided that the posts should be concreted into place. Time will tell whether or not this was a wise move, but we felt that they stood the best chance of remaining in place. Our problem now was that we were running out of concrete. However, with thanks to Les for donating a considerable amount of cement and ballast, we soon started our own readymix operation and produced enough to install the remaining posts.

At this point we decided that working as two groups would get the task done effectively with one group remaining to complete the installation of posts at Sandford while another group went to Barnes Lock to install the posts there. Equipment and materials were divided appropriately and the groups set forth to their designated locations.

Not only was the Waymark installed, but a footpath through the undergrowth was created in order to make sense of where the sign was pointing.

So, it seemed that the job was done. All posts except the remote one near Stonhams Lock were now in place and we could finish early.

But such was the enthusiasm of our volunteers that an early finish was not to be. Not wanting the job to be left unfinished further materials were requisitioned and seven volunteers set off, with wheelbarrow, to walk to Stonhams Lock. After a dilemma about whether to believe the map or whether to believe the photograph of the location (the two did not tally) quick work was made of installing this ninth post.

The job was done, and, with the walk back to Sandford ahead of us, we were pleased to celebrate the Last Post!