Ock Valley Walk, Tesco End, 22nd October 2016

When we were last at the Tesco End of the Ock Valley Walk, summer was in full-swing and the Himalayan Balsam was somewhat rampant.  Now, firmly in the grip of Autumn, the Balsam, along with much of the rest of the summer vegetation had begun to die-back.  The consequence being, that for this session, we were not inundated with invasive non-native plants to eradicate, but instead, gave priority to litter-picking - with the litter problem along this section of the path all the more obvious as the plant growth has subsided.

A secondary task was to sweep the paths of fallen leaves, which when wet can become a slip hazard, especially on the recently-tarmacked sections.  In addition there were some potentially dangerous overhanging tree branches to deal with.  General path maintenance tasks in fact!

In excess of fifteen members turned out on this mild and dry morning and the many hands did indeed make light work.  Several bags of recyclable and non-recyclable waste had been gathered by the tea break at 11am and the paths had been swept and tidied also.  

All that was left for the remainder of the morning was to broaden our litter-picking horizons and venture further out along the verges that run parallel to the supermarket car park and to the steep banks of the Ock River.  Additional litter bounty was gathered and many of our number departed slightly early, safe in the knowledge that we had put in a good effort and again improved the appearance of this popular thoroughfare.
-Andrew

Green Gymmers gather in the car park

Assembling at base camp!

Eleanor sweeping the path

Tea break

Andrew in the Ock!

Eleanor, Janet and Margaret with the litter-picking haul