Ock Valley Walk, Tesco End, 24th March 2012

A beautiful spring morning greeted the 10 or so Green Gym volunteers who met for Saturday's session.  The main task this time involved litter picking along the Tesco end of the Ock River Walk.  Some additional work was also carried out, tidying up the woodland adjacent to the river, and clearing dangerous tree branches in preparation for Himalayan Balsam pulling later in the Spring/Summer.  The banks of the river tend to become rather overgrown with this invasive non-native plant later towards the summer months which we attempt to eradicate due to it suffocating the native wildlife.

From the outset it was apparent that there was an almost overwhelming amount of litter to be cleared from the area.  However, due to the hard work of all involved, good progress was made throughout the morning and several bags worth of recyclable and non-recyclable waste were collected, much improving the appearance of this busy area for at least the immediate future. However, there is little doubt that the Green Gym will return again to repeat the exercise later in the year!

-Andrew



The Ock Path at the Tesco End, with some of the litter cleared.



The group take a well-earned tea break!



Lauren mid litter-pick!



The results of the morning's efforts