HAYSDEN COUNTRY PARK
I enjoyed a fab day out with John yesterday we went to Haysden Country Park, it's just a few minutes drive from where he's currently living. There are two large lakes and river, the lakes, Haysden and Barden are beautiful, it was so peaceful. On Barden Lake there were a lot of different ducks, geese, seagulls etc and John knows the names of them all so it makes it more enjoyable - these country boys! We chatted to a guy fishing he'd caught a 14lb fish earlier that morning, it seems a popular spot to fish as there were several people fishing along the lake, some had been there all night (maybe longer) as they had their tents and camping stuff. This lake seemed more popular with people and there were quite a few mums and children. We enjoyed eating our picnic before walking to Haysden Lake. 
The photos of the river and planting were taken on the way unfortunately the beauty of the planting has not come out, it is very meadow like and colourful; my camera card ran out of space so I only managed to take a couple of pics and didn't get any of the lakes, which was a shame. I enjoyed seeing how the footbridge was constructed.
The photos of the river and planting were taken on the way unfortunately the beauty of the planting has not come out, it is very meadow like and colourful; my camera card ran out of space so I only managed to take a couple of pics and didn't get any of the lakes, which was a shame. I enjoyed seeing how the footbridge was constructed.
posted by suze @ 9:11 AM
3 Comments:
Hi there! Glad you had a good day out there - I've only viewed it from the train.
I think the plant is an Indian or Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera). They grow to 1-2m high and like a damp habitat. Same family as Busy Lizzie.
Hi Sue - Anne is spot on!
I cheated and asked the RHS advisory
service to identify it. This is what they had to say:
The photograph that you sent for identification appears to be Impatiens glandulifera, commonly known as Himalayan balsam, and related to busy Lizzie. It is native to the Himalayas but was introduced to this country in 1839. It is now completely naturalized in Britain, especially on riverbanks, but also in waste places, and is on the increase. Conservation authorities are concerned at its spread and its ability to compete with native plants. Indeed, it is not uncommon to see “balsam bashing” groups patrolling riverbanks on summer weekends. It is sometimes seen in gardens, either uninvited or grown deliberately, but care must be taken to ensure that it does not escape into the wild.
It is a tall, robust, annual producing clusters of purplish pink (or rarely white) helmet-shaped flowers. These are followed by seed pods which open explosively when ripe, shooting their seeds over a wide area.
Hi Rich and Annie thanks for that, good to see you are looking at my blog still!!!
It is growing alongside a path not far from the river but I would describe it more as wasteland than wetland and there was masses of it, easy to understand once you know how the seeds disperse.
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