Abingdon Green Gym Blog

 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Julio and Sally We met on Berkeley Road, just above the old golf course, which is next to Abrahams Wood, another of our work sites, and affords a fine view of Oxford. It was another mild, sunny morning, which was lucky for us, although we are in great need of some rain.  Old Berkeley Golf Course, owned by Oxford Preservation Trust The volunteers assemble View from the top We walked down the hill with our tools, much further than we had in the past. right to the far corner of the site. Adrian briefed us on the tasks which Rod d'Ayala, who manages the site for OPT, had asked us to do. Basically, he wants to rewet the site (with rain, whenever that happens). there is normally a runnel down the valley, but this had completely dried up. We could see by the rushes that this area is generally fairly wet. To this end he had asked us to scythe and rake up the grass and to cut back branches and scrub along the edge of the field. Adrian gives a briefing The si...

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Julio. We held our annual picnic at Hinksey Heights on Saturday, 16th August with all the amenities it has to offer, not least the walk around the Hinksey Heights Nature Trail, which leads from the Golf Course past a field overlooking Oxford and around the second largest area of alkaline fen in Oxfordshire (we still haven't worked out where the largest area is!)   As Eleanor and Ursula share the same birthday in August, we hold the picnic on a Saturday near to their special day.   Luckily, the weather proved not to be as hot as had originally been forecast and 17 of us enjoyed a walk along the Nature Trail, praising the Trail Volunteers who have done a magnificent job in constructing a bridge and replacing large sections of board walk.  We noted that to the area of fen nearest Harcourt Hill that they were in the midst of diverting the path around it.  The Nature Reserve has changed since we last visited, with a larger area hav...

  Blog by Eleanor, photos by Julio and Helen      Seventeen volunteers assembled for the work party on Jarn Mound on this warm, sunny August day. We were pleased to welcome back Helen and Henry, whom we hadn't seen for a while. We were working under the direction of Rod d'Ayala to clear cut vegetation on the mound and various other tasks. Arrival at the car park            Jarn Mound was commissioned by Sir Arthur Evans and completed in 1931. It is 15 metres high with deep steps leading to the top. When constructed, it provided a panoramic view over Oxford, but since then, the trees have grown, blocking out the view. It is now owned and cared for by the Oxford Preservation Trust. Site notice                                                                       ...

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Julio, Margaret and Sally We returned to Dry Sandford Pit Nature Reserve, which is looked after by BBOWT, our local Wildlife Trust, on 2nd August.   Kevin was our leader for the session and had been given instructions by BBOWT for us to work in two principal areas - the first near the entrance gate to remove scrub and invasive Virginia creeper, which was escaping from someone's garden, and the second was to cut and rake an area of the alkaline fen. The new Fen Notice Board Kevin shows there is a plan, as he points to the areas we'll be working in on the map, on our arrival in the car park. It was just as well we car-shared and some came by bike, as there were 17 of us and we filled the car park! Kevin giving the briefing.  The grass looks very brown as we have not had any decent rain for a while. We split into two groups - those working on the grassland opted for loppers and the tree popper, whilst the fen group took scythes, rakes and pitch...