On the hottest day of the year so far, Cam Valley Forum and Cambridge Canoe Club held a joint working party to help Cam Conservators clear the invasive weed floating pennywort from the lower Cam, between Baits Bite Lock and Clayhithe. (This is a continuation of our pennywort eradication project, which seems to have successfully eradicated it from the Cam above Cambridge)
We had 15 people: 3 working from the bank and 12 from canoes.
We were working together with Tom from Cam Conservators who was using their new “Conver” weed lifter boat. The combination is very effective: the Conver deals with the bulk, but we’re very effective in picking up the little bits the Conver misses or drops.
There’s still more to do, especially between Horningsea and Clayhithe, but we’ve made a good dent in it. Hopefully ultimately, (with the help of boat owners too) we’ll be able to eradicate pennywort as far down as Clayhithe
We finished with a very pleasant picnic in the shade on John Harrison’s meadow in Horningsea.