Frilford Heath Golf Club, 21st January 2017

By Andrew -
This week we returned to Boundary House Fen at Frilford Heath Golf Club.  Earlier in the week, the golf club had been awarded the Sports Turf Research Institute Golf Environment Award 2017 for the best environmental project on a golf course.  This was an acknowledgement of the recent work of the ground staff.  It was also a significant vindication of our ongoing efforts here; a site we have visited regularly since 2011.  During this time a considerable transformation has occurred, with a large area of the fen having been restored.  A number of key indicator species have observed, thus preserving its Site of Special Scientic Interest (SSSI) status.

 We met as usual at the main golf club car park before dividing into as few cars as possible for the journey along the road to the groundsman's area.  We were pleased to welcome a new member, Rosie, along for the first time. We were also pleased to find that the gate into the site had been unlocked for us on this occasion unlike on our previous visit!

 We numbered 18 in total today, including Judy Webb and Alison Muldal, representing Natural England, who oversee our work here.

 After the walk across the frosty fairways and a brief warm-up, we set about our tasks which were to continue raking the cut reeds and to transport them via pitchforks and drag-bags to piles on the perimeter of the fen.  There were also some stray tree branches and logs to gather up and move away from the wetland habitat.

 Keen to keep busy and stay warm, we worked hard to get the job finished, which was a realistic prospect given our large turn-out.  Oranges and bananas were offered at the tea break along with the usual biscuits - much-needed half-time fuel given the chilly conditions and fast-pace of the morning!

 Another successful session here and we look forward to returning and continuing our jobs at this now award-winning site in the near future!
-Andrew

Gathering at the groundsman's area.

Across the frosty fairways.

Judy leads the warm-up!

Time to begin.

The fen.

A frosty fern.

Log piles

Raking underway.

A large reed pile is formed!

A drag-bag is filled with reeds.

The stream running through site.

The large stack of reeds beside the Boundary House.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pinkhill Meadow Nature Reserve, Farmoor Reservoir, 16th March 2019

By Andrew -
Image
Another week, another new site for the Abingdon Green Gym! We met at the car park at Farmoor Reservoir, a healthy turn out of 17 of us, including French father Sebastien, and his eleven-year old son, Maelo, who was joining us for a school project. The session was led by James under the instruction of Hanna Jenkins, the warden of Pinkhill Meadow Nature Reserve, so called because it is right on the banks of the River Thames, just near Pinkhill Lock. It was another blustery day. Will this crazy wind ever let up? We followed Hanna in convoy round the edge of the reservoir, which was choppy to say the least, and parked up on the other side where it was thankfully a little calmer, the high banks of the reservoir providing some shelter. Equipped with our tools, gloves and goggles, we made our way onto the spot on the nature reserve where we were to do our work. Hanna told us that the reserve had been formed in 1991, but some aspects had been neglected over the last ten years. The aim
Read more

Kennington Memorial Field, 29th October 2016

By Andrew -
We have been working at Kennington Memorial Field for a number of years now, clearing scrub from the slopes so that the valley remains an area of grassland and wild flowers. This time Rachel from Oxford Preservation Trust was in charge and led us down to the lower end of the field, where we were to cut back the trees and bushes by several metres and burn the scrub on a bonfire. We were joined by some families with children of varying ages, the youngest only three, who had answered a local appeal for volunteers. We set to work and soon we had a bonfire going. Even the children who were too young to use loppers and saws joined in, carrying branches to the bonfire pile. Despite the drizzly weather they all worked cheerfully. At tea break time we enjoyed some delicious snacks that Rachel had brought and a tin of chocolates supplied by Michele. We found two old birds' nests in the course of the morning and cutting back the scrub revealed a log pile with a rabbit hole under
Read more

Ock Valley Walk, Town End, 22nd June 2013

By Andrew -
Image
Quite a small group gathered for this session and the weather didn't look promising. However, we were pleased to welcome a new member, Laura. We set off for the woodchip path,where we made our encampment. The nettles had grown high and dense since our previous visit, almost concealing the young trees, compising beech, oak, silver birch, cherry and rowan, which we had planted as whips almost two and a half years previously. One of our tasks was to clear the nettles and other vegetation immediately around them. As you can see from the photo of the young cherry, most of the trees are flourishing. Other tasks were to cut up and clear fallen branches into piles and the inevitable litter picking. There was a sharp shower shortly before 11 o'clock but it had stopped when we gathered for a welcome tea break. By the end of the morning we had finished clearing round the trees, tidied away the dead wood and picked up quite a respectable amount of litter, though I suspect t
Read more