Spring tides again and this time the West side of the country is suffering from flooding but last month Cowpen Marsh was inundated by the sea coming over the sea wall by Greatham Creek. This has caused damage to the path from car park to the hide as well as to the marsh itself. There is little we can do for the marsh but recent heavy rain will have washed out some of the salt. However, we can now get access to the car park and have started to repair the path. In places the path surface has been completely washed off but enough of the gravel can be shovelled back to give an adequate surface. The extent of the flood can be seen by the tidemark of debris on the road embankment and the wrack - seaweed - hanging on the fence.
Ed took this shot of me, Dean, Brian and Ian working on it today.
There is still a lot of work for the wardens and volunteers to do so the path will remain closed.
We have been asked if we own the marsh and the answer is no. We do own some land in the area but not Cowpen Marsh nor even the main part of the reserve but we do have management of them.
Peter