Ock Valley Walk, Tesco End, 14th November 2020

By Andrew -
Our remaining programme for November has been cancelled due to the lockdown. However, volunteering is still permitted under the government guidelines and our parent organisation TCV have approved us holding sessions during this time subject to the updated COVID 19 safety guidelines. Therefore as part of a revised schedule, a group of six of us met at the Tesco end of the Ock Valley Walk for a socially-distanced morning of litter picking, path sweeping and sowing of wild flower seeds.

Eleanor led the charge, issuing us with our details. It was apparent that there was a large amount of litter to be collected and half of us set off with bags for recyclable and non-recyclable waste. Much of the bounty was made up of discarded drinks cans and bottles, with an alarming number of disposable face masks also lining the path. 

As well as litter, the path was covered with fallen leaves which had become quite slippery as a result of the rain. Armed with rakes and spades, we cleared these to the path margins in an effort to make this busy thoroughfare a little safer for passers-by. 

Meanwhile, Sally cleared a small area by the bridge to plant some wild flower seeds which will hopefully make the area more attractive and wildlife-friendly come the summer months. Time will tell!

After a short mid-morning break, we continued for another 15 minutes or so, finishing off our tasks before plotting our escape, hastened by the fact that it was pouring with rain.

Joanna had come out to meet us (and to provide me with a lift home!) at the end of the session, bringing with her Elly the puppy - who quickly made friends with the group and might well become the new Green Gym mascot!
-Andrew 


The socially-distanced gathering.

Sally gets raking.

Velvet Shank mushrooms on a log beside the Ock Path.

The Ock Path out of town.

More mushrooms.

Coral fungi.

A soggy mid-morning break.

All the litter picked.

Graham clearing the path of leaves.

Eleanor finishes up.

Joanna and Elly the pup.


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