Boundary House Fen, Saturday 13th of August 2022

By -


This week's blog post was written by outstanding authors Helen and Henry!: 

Nine Green Gymmers braved the heat on Saturday for a session at Boundary House Fen. We were met by Rod who showed us our tasks for the morning: raking up material that had already been scythed, continuing the scything work and lopping/sawing some brambles and logs.  

Sally, Barbara and Jim set about scything, whilst the rest of the team got to work clearing the ground and making compact and tight heaps with the cut material. This was mostly grasses and rushes but a small patch of sneaky Himalayan Balsam was spotted and quickly dispatched to prevent it spreading in the fen.  

At breaktime we took shelter under a tree not only for some much-needed hydration but also to enjoy some delicious chocolate cake kindly provided by Sally for Eleanor’s birthday. Rested up, we continued with our earlier tasks, thankful for a bit of dappled shade provided by the trees in the area where we worked. With the heaps full and the midday sun beating down, we headed back with the tools before going our separate ways for a well-earned lunch.


A very hot start

Intrepid heat explorers

Smiles in the sunshine

Nothing can hold the Green Gym team back! 

A well-earned rehydration



The best of sunhats 

Graham in a NEW hat?

A back view of the hat

Ask not for whom the scyther scythes 



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

Jarn Mound and Wild Garden, Boars Hill, 12th November 2016

By Andrew -
Image
Four weeks after our last session with the Oxford Preservation Trust at Boars Hill, we returned, albeit at Jarn Mound this time rather than the Elizabeth Daryush Garden; which had been our venue in October. We again met with  Rachel Sanderson of the trust, who along with our leader of the day, James, outlined the tasks for the morning.  Primarily, we were to clear the mound itself of scrub and tree saplings that had taken root there, with the intention of restoring it to its original state.  There were also some flatter areas of the garden that required clearing, for the less intrepid among us. Unfortunately, the day had begun a little on the inclement side.  Indeed as we arrived, the rain fell persisently, making many of us wonder if the session would go ahead at all!  But of course, the Green Gymmers are renowned for working whatever the weather, and the damp conditions did not deter us. A couple of problems were immediately evident due to the rain;  firstly, the steep sides o
Read more