And moving on to Bourneside meadow

Here, rather by way of contrast, to the plants seen along the Access Trail, is the Branched Bur-Reed, Sparganium erectum, growing in the river by the Bourneside footbridge. The smaller globes are male inflorescences, the larger ones lower down on a branch are female inflorescences. There appear to be black-tipped perianth segments  in the female inflorescence, making it Sparganium erectum (L.). The size of the plant as a whole is a bit of a clue as well.

From the view of the central inflorescence in the photo you can see the leaf keeled at the base, broadside on to the stem. The plant looks hairless overall, as specified in the books. The female flowers take on a bur-like appearance before breaking up into distinct fruits. The fruits are small, dry and spongy and contain 1-2 seeds. They are shouldered, as seen in this weblink from the US'

The fruit, which ripen in November, are eaten by waterfowl and there is a micromoth, Plusia festucae. Most spread is vegetative, partly via its rhizomes, and it acts as good habitat for wildfowl, but it can be regarded as a clogging weed in some circumstances, requiring a degree of control.

Next to the Branched Bur-Reed, there is a plant of Hemlock Water Dropwort, Oenanthe crocata. The leaf shape is right, and the styles on the developing fruit look OK for this species.

This is the detail of the leaf:

and another trying to get closer to the styles:

On the meadow itself, which seems to be getting much taller year by year, there were some good butterflies, including Gatekeepers, Pyronia tithonus.