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dorsetandbeyond.bsky.social
Richard Bradford
@dorsetandbeyond.bsky.social
310 followers 330 following 77 posts
Muddlings from the banks of the Dorset Frome and its water meadows. Rusty botanist.
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Wonderful veteran Sweet Chestnut by the Pony Path at Ty Nant, below Cadair Idris. A celebration of this week's #thicktrunktuesday from Gwynedd.
Veteran Sweet Chestnut coming into leaf by the edge of a stony path heading up Cadair Idris in north Wales. A large branch from the tree lies behind it. Blue sky, with April clouds.
April 22, 2025 at 4:33 PM
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Glorious twisted oak by the Dorset Frome at Stinsford to celebrate this week's #thicktrunktuesday.
View up the twisted trunk of an old oak tree, first bend to the right and then to the left. Some of the trunk is moss- covered. Blue sky above.
April 1, 2025 at 4:40 PM
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Blackthorn spring in Dorchester this week. The Cherry Plum blossom is beginning to fade leaving its confetti on the ground.

The path by Ten Hatches, today.
A gravel path winds between flowering Blackthorn under a blue sky. Thin clouds at a high level, with a soft wind from the east behind you.
March 31, 2025 at 5:00 PM
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A Plane in Dunster Park to celebrate this week's #thicktrunktuesday.
Looking up the trunk of a Plane tree in early spring. Warm brown bark, branches curled and twisted for some reason. No leaves emerged yet. Blue sky with high clouds beyond.
March 11, 2025 at 5:06 PM
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Meanwhile, 2km downstream, this.
📷 One of several courses of the Dorset Frome at Kingston Maurward.
The river flows from the midground across all the foreground, its flow partly interrupted by the trunk of a tree fallen from the bank on the right. Pale winter sun, blue sky with some cloud. Fresh green amongst last year's brown- green. Trees still with now leaves.
March 1, 2025 at 8:35 AM
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Friday morning at Hangman's Weir on the Dorset Frome, 400m from Dorchester's High Street.
Early morning sun behind willow trees on the bank of the Dorset Frome brings gold to the river. Trees darkly silhouetted against the blue sky. Mist rises from the river. Cold, ground frosted.
February 28, 2025 at 8:28 AM
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The Haydon Oak in Sherborne Deer Park. One of Dorset's ancients - in celebration of this week's #thicktrunktuesday.

📷 February 2023.
Massive trunk of an ancient pedunculate oak amongst younger trees. The trunk is gnarled, twisted with several big burrs. The oak is no longer alive but it now contains a myriad of other insects and fungi which are making good use of the timber. The tree is by a public footpath in Sherborne Deer Park, Dorset.
February 4, 2025 at 2:09 PM
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And finally, big thanks to everyone who looks after the Dorset Frome and its floodplains - the many land owners, farmers, angling clubs and riparian owners, authorities and organisations.

If you've enjoyed #WorldWetlandsDay, please join us again for #WorldRiversDay in September 2025.
Low winter sun over the floodplains of the Dorset Frome at Lower Bockhampton. Predominantly blue, clear winter blue. Tree, with ivy, silhouette in the right foreground. Many shades of green/brown.
February 2, 2025 at 5:48 PM
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The Dorset Frome and its floodplains are simply amazing wetlands - varied, resilient, adaptable, valuable and valued.

Long may they remain so, on #WorldWetlandsDay and beyond.

📷 Sentinel alder by the river near Stinsford.
Magnificent alder stands on the left bank of the river, a silhouette against the low winter evening sun. The river flows away from the photographer, disappearing round a bend beyond the alder.
February 2, 2025 at 5:43 PM
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Suggestion 4:
Walk the Frome Trail, following the river downstream from Maiden Newton. Keep watch for signs of otter.

📷 Fingerpost on the Church Path at Stinsford, alongside one of the tributaries of the Dorset Frome.
Fingerpost on the Church Path at Stinsford alongside one of the tributaries of the Dorset Frome.
February 2, 2025 at 5:39 PM
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Suggestion 2:
Learn about the movement advocating that rivers in the UK should be given a legal status to increase the likelihood that they will be better protected, see
www.kcl.ac.uk/legal-clinic...

#WorldWetlandsDay
Screenshot of the cover of the 'Rights of Nature Toolkit's published in 2023-24.
February 2, 2025 at 5:28 PM
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What can we do, as citizens concerned about the future wellbeing of the Dorset Frome and its floodplains? A few suggestions.

1. Press that further nature enhancements be carried out via the new Dorset Local Nature Recovery Strategy
#WorldWetlandsDay
www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/nature-recov...
Screenshot of the website for the Dorset Local Nature Recovery Strategy includes an image of Dorset Frome to the north of Dorchester. The draft Strategy is due to be published in spring 2025.
February 2, 2025 at 5:20 PM
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A 'Wetlands Opportunity' map has been developed for the catchments in Dorset to help prioritize future activities by organisations - including those working on the #floodplains of the Dorset Frome, see: gi.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/explorer/phc

Worth exploring this resource on #WorldWetlandsDay!
Screenshot of an 'Wetlands Opportunity' map for the Dorset Frome downstream of Dorchester.
February 2, 2025 at 5:13 PM
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Improvements to the upper tributaries are often led by the Dorset Wildlife Trust and others, see www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/c...
Infographic showing the habit improvements carried out on some of Dorset's rivers.
February 2, 2025 at 5:10 PM
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Many organisations and individuals are working to enhance the Dorset Frome, often coordinated through the Dorset Catchment Partnership and their Strategy 2022-2027, see www.dorsetcatchments.co.uk/resources
Winter scene along the Dorset Frome to the north of Dorchester. Shade of greens, browns, olives. Wind blowing left to right under blue winter sky. This is a favoured swimming place for some.
February 2, 2025 at 5:07 PM
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Sometimes overlooked, the wetlands of the Dorset Frome have a wonderful heritage of veteran alder and crack willow.

How can we ensure that a succession of veteran trees can thrive across these floodplains? #WorldWetlandsDay
Two big veteran alders stand with their feet in water by the Dorset Frome. Grey barked, furrowed barked. The trunk of the right hand one is broken (but not detached) and now rests on the ground. Still full of life even at this age.
February 2, 2025 at 4:55 PM
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Riparian woodland adds yet more natural diversity to the floodplains of the Dorset Frome.

This young willow carr, developing on an ungrazed area to the north of Dorchester, helps to store water at times of flood. #WorldWetlandsDay
Seasonally flooded woodland by the Dorset Frome to the north of Dorchester. Water flows right to left through the trees during high river levels. Dorchester can be seen in the background.
February 2, 2025 at 4:43 PM
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Squidgy edges are important wetlands!

Many of these edges are grazed as part of the adjacent floor meadows, eg. the riverbank of the Dorset Frome at Lower Bockhampton which attracts snipe, heron and little egrets. #WorldWetlandsDay
Rough vegetation along the river margins, plus small pools and scrapes, add variety to the riverscape. Some of the bankside willows take on a fire orange colour in winter.
February 2, 2025 at 4:40 PM
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Scrapes and temporary pools are another important wetland feature of the Frome floodplains.

Some appear to be 'ghost channels' of the river and are the first places to get wet & the last to drain after a flood.

They can attract snipe, heron & teal in winter. #WorldWetlandsDay
Shallow water amongst the old water meadows, blue amongst the winter olive green. Good conditions for feeding snipe if there are any nearby.
February 2, 2025 at 4:34 PM
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Ponds add extra diversity to the #wetlands of the Dorset Frome & its floodplains. Some seem to be former meanders or backwaters, and can appear to need a light restoration (?) eg. at Woodsford.

Others may be former duck decoys - one is mapped as 'skating pond'. #WorldWetlandsDay
Small pond under bare willow trees. Blue winter sky reflected in pond suggests it might be cold.
February 2, 2025 at 4:31 PM
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The meandering nature of the Dorset Frome has left us with some backwaters, often former channels in the floodplain still connected to the river at one end.

The backwaters add important diversity to the riverside #wetlands - still water, shelter & soggy edges #WorldWetlandsDay2025
An old water-filled channel across the old water meadows. The surface is still, blue white on this clear winters day. Sun shines through the silhouette of willows to the left of the image. Nothing seems to be moving.
February 2, 2025 at 12:47 PM
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The Dorset Frome still has an abundance of meanders and parallel channels where it flows through its floodplains, eg. south of Charminster.

Some of these might be the original river channels developed after the last Ice Age - now they help to slow peak flows! #WorldWetlandsDay
Screenshot of an OS maps (surveyed c 1880s) showing some of the leaders in the Dorset Frome as it flows through West Ward Common upstream of Dorchester. There is an amazing online archive of these early OS maps accessible via the National Library of Scotland website - well worth a look. One of the meanders of the Dorset Frome shown on the map. The winter river is in full flow.
February 2, 2025 at 12:43 PM
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The flood meadows are used through the year - laid up for hay or grazed by cattle/sheep in the growing seasons, floodwater storage in the winter.

Many were incorporated into highly managed and productive 'water meadows' in the 18th century eg. at Stinsford. #WorldWetlandsDay2025
A tributary of the Dorset Frome crosses the foreground, inky blue in response to the clear winter sky. A low arch bridge crosses the tributary to the right of the image. The background is wooded, some trees in winter silhouette.
February 2, 2025 at 11:56 AM
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This image from Graham Hunt Photography shows how important storing it is to store floodwater on the natural floodplains to protect towns such as Dorchester eg. in January 2024 #WorldWetlandsDay
Aerial photograph by Graham Hunt shows floodplains in action to the north of Dorchester. Buildings along the High Street to the left are safely above flood level. The flooding follows the line of the Dorset Frome.
February 2, 2025 at 11:52 AM
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After high rainfall, the well connected floodplains can store significant volumes of floodwater eg. on West Ward Common upstream of Dorchester in January 2024. #WorldWetlandsDay2025
The floodplains are so full they appear like a lake, the surface flattish under the blue sky. A shore of dark copper - the winter colour of common reed - lies below the horizon. A low purple grey cloud falsely suggests a distant mountain.
February 2, 2025 at 9:49 AM