Saturday 30th September - Thrupp Green

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This Saturday, we were working on the Radley Lakes complex, continuing the work of scything and raking up vegetation, begun on Thursday by Radley Lakes volunteers. We met in the Radley Lakes car park, though some people had cycled from the Abingdon direction. It was the sort of day when you were not sure whether it was Summer or Autumn, or whether you were going to be too warm or too cold.

We walked down the path past Thrupp Lake. Kevin, our leader, had driven with the tools to where the paths divided and from there we set off along the old railway track to the place where we were to work.

A couple of Radley Lakes volunteers were already scything and Barbara joined them with her scythe. There was plenty to rake up and carry to the heaps at the edge of the wooded area.

We were working beside a shallow lake, and it was clear that this was a former gravel pit which had been filled with fly ash from Didcot Power Station, as there were bits of black ash close to the surface. It wasn't a peaceful working atmosphere as there was the constant noise of motorcycle scrambling from the tracks across the river.

We worked hard until tea break time, when we enjoyed sitting in the pleasant sunshine, but this made it hard to get back to work. By the end of the morning, however, we had cleared a large area. We hope this will encourage ground nesting birds such as lapwing.

Having collected up our tools, we made our way back along the track.



Starting work




                                                                                         
                                                                                              


On top of the heap




                                                                                                 
      


Homeward bound



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