Sunday, August 18, 2013

Silt Busting

Well that was damn hard, back breaking work. Although not strictly a riparian owner, if I don't keep the brook clear it's going to be me who pays the price when the great floods come... Okay, so it's not exactly a brook but the waters do flow for ten months of the year, only drying to a boggy channel during the hottest periods of the year. It's source, 'The' source of the River Napping - as I don't ever refer to it, and is completely made up - is the run off from the fields, 100m away. It never actually dries up completely though. It is however, a fertile oasis and becomes overgrown at the end of every summer.

Today was the day I got stuck in and cleared that bad boy and this year I decided I needed to dredge the level a little. The last few years have seen the silt levels increase quite a bit. Shifting half a tonne of heavy silt was blinking hard work. It looks quite tidy now though and won't need much more work before it'll be sufficiently clear to cope with the rains that winter will deliver.

It was sweaty work. Down in the jungle of overgrown plants. With humidity close to one hundred percent. I was dripping within the hour. My shirt soaking. Wiping the sweat from my eyes, I did not tire from the task. Well, okay, I didn't tire for another hour. Was a good job done though - if not entirely conducive of a weekend of rest....

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