Community Action to Transform the Cale Habitat
On Saturday last, the chance came for our resident Brummie committee member, Steve Lee, to don his waders for the first time and clear out some assorted rubbish from the river underneath and immediately around Hawker’s Bridge.… ...read the rest
This coming Saturday (6th July) we will be ‘Balsam Bashing’. The actual description of what we are doing is uprooting as much of an invasive species of plant as possible in order to allow native plants to flourish along the banks. We have to pull it out before it goes to seed by the end of July.
If river flows stay low as we hope, it will allow people to enter the water and see the river from another angle whilst doing some good for the River Cale.
Come and join us if you fancy a short morning of a … ...read the rest
Today, Gary & Matt from CATCH did a radio interview with BBC Radio Somerset.
From Victorian Bridge in Cale Park Recreation ground they discussed the beginnings of CATCH and why the group does what it does.
Also includes a guest appearance from Sophie Hunt, age 14.
The interview goes out on air over the next 5 evenings at 9:40pm and we have no idea how it will go…..listen at your peril… ...read the rest
We carried out a kick sample on the morning of Saturday 4th May as planned. It was great to have some new people join us. The number of invertebrates counted was a bit lower than this time last year but not low enough to cause too much concern. There is a lot of weed in the river this spring which makes it more challenging spotting and identifying the river fly larvae but there can be multiple causes contributing to this. The water level is also quite low (with the October – March rainfall having been only 83% of the … ...read the rest
For those of you who are wondering what CATCH are currently up to, we are in the midst of planning a couple of local projects and events. At the end of March the kick sampling season begins once again.
A date for your diary will be 7th April, where CATCH members will carry out a public kick sampling demonstration where we are looking for budding river ecologists to take part and maybe in the future take a participation in this each month?
We are also hoping to soon launch the ‘Yellow Fish’ campaign in the town. If you’d like … ...read the rest
Dave Smith and Janice Blackwell retrieve the stereotypical urban river litter…..funnily enough these appear more and more now that you no longer need money in the slot.
The Royal Horticultural Society – It’s Your Neighbourhood Award Scheme is designed to give support and recognition to community action groups across the South West. There are five levels of attainment for the award:
In Wincanton, we have a Wild Flower Meadow that was created, and is maintained by C.A.T.C.H.
For the last few years we have entered this scheme and have attained ‘Establishing’, and ‘Advancing’, and are delighted to have achieved the highest recognition possible of ‘Outstanding’ for the second year running!
On the 27th we are going to be litter picking through certain parts of the town stretch of the River Cale, and banks, etc.
This is a family freindly event and as such we will post further details here and on our Facebook / Twitter pages too.… ...read the rest
Just a quick look at how C.A.T.C.H. aim to reduce the contamination of the local river, and what is still being found in the River Cale.… ...read the rest
So beautiful down on the Cale today. Bit of graft put in but the River is looking so much better for it . Lovely to see the families enjoying the sunshine and a game of poo sticks off of Victorian Bridge. We were joined by a lovely Robin who spent time with us while we removed plastic and all sorts of cans , glass, wood, and the occasional toy. I think he was saying thank you to us ! #communityAction
After a few select local teenagers decided a CATCH sign no longer needed to be in place it was removed with pure excitement I’m sure and skimmed in to the Cale. However, with a bit of TLC in my garage it was repaired and is now back in place in the recreation ground.