Abingdon Green Gym Blog

A beautiful spring morning greeted the 10 or so Green Gym volunteers who met for Saturday's session.  The main task this time involved litter picking along the Tesco end of the Ock River Walk.  Some additional work was also carried out, tidying up the woodland adjacent to the river, and clearing dangerous tree branches in preparation for Himalayan Balsam pulling later in the Spring/Summer.  The banks of the river tend to become rather overgrown with this invasive non-native plant later towards the summer months which we attempt to eradicate due to it suffocating the native wildlife. From the outset it was apparent that there was an almost overwhelming amount of litter to be cleared from the area.  However, due to the hard work of all involved, good progress was made throughout the morning and several bags worth of recyclable and non-recyclable waste were collected, much improving the appearance of this busy area for at least the i...

Today we joined the Barton Fields Green Team to help with various tasks on the site. We split up into small groups, with some of us weeding the wild flower plots we had planted last year, some scalping the turf under the trees ready for new planting or fetching water for the wildflower plots, while others worked around the ponds or put up nesting boxes for the birds. At the end of the session we scattered seeds such as meadow cranesbill and field scabious on the wildflower meadow. We have enjoyed helping over the past few years to create and maintain this wild flower meadow and pond area in Abingdon, which will encourage and conserve a large variety of flora and fauna. -Eleanor

Here are a few photos from the pond digging sessions at Drayton Road Allotments:

This Saturday saw our second visit to Drayton Road allotments to continue digging a pond. Last week we had made good progress in clearing the trees and preparing the site and we had even begun digging. This time, with fewer able bodied diggers, our progress seemed discouragingly slow, and on top of that, our wheelbarrow got a puncture. We kept at it, however, having voted down suggestions of bringing in a mechanical digger, and with more womanpower arriving after the break, the task seemed less daunting. Just before the session was due to finish we finally struck water! The water table is alarmingly close to the surface on this site and many allotment holders have dug wells on their plots. The finished pond, which will not be lined, will be filled from below as well as with rainwater when we get some rain. We will need to assign a couple more sessions on the new programme to finishing the pond. -Eleanor

This Saturday we embarked on a new project, namely, digging a pond at the Drayton Road allotments at the southern end of Southern Town Park. Ten Green Gymmers turned up for the session and were joined later by Mary and Tony de Vere from the allotments committee, who had suggested the project. The idea of the pond was to increase the biodiversity of the area and attract friendly, pest devouring wildlife such as frogs and toads. Firstly the area needed to be cleared of poplar saplings, which also meant digging up the roots in the actual pond area, a job requiring persistence and stamina, and cutting back the trees on the margins. There was also a certain amount of rubble and assorted rubbish to be cleared away. We were pleased by our progress and after raking away the surface debris we were able to start on the actual digging. We carted away the soil in wheelbarrows to a plot which is prone to flooding and were grateful for a couple of extra barrows lent by other allotment holders. N...

We joined the Kennington Memorial Field conservation group under the direction of Alison Muldal of Natural England. It was a year since we had last been there. The weather was fine and it was good to be back. The work involved cutting down hawthorn bushes to make grassy bays in the wooded areas and transporting the branches down to the bonfire, moving some woodchip and laying it on the path and also some hedge pruning. For our mid morning break we enjoyed tea, coffee and biscuits provided by Alison in the sports pavilion, which had the added luxury of toilets. After the break we worked hard to get all the remaining wood down to the bonfire where the pyromaniacs among us enjoyed feeding the flames. -Eleanor photos by Ursula: removing scrub hawthorn bush clearance the pyromaniacs among us...

This was a special occasion as it was our day for planting a tree in memory of Chris Thomas, one of our leaders who died suddenly just after Christmas. We had chosen a black poplar and had a small engraved plaque made. The session began with business as usual, piling up branches, raking twigs and shovelling woodchip into piles, as well as litter picking, as there was an area of devastation to be cleared, where contractors had chopped down a number of large willow trees. Meanwhile James and Kevin dug a hole for the memorial tree. Towards 11 o'clock Chris's family arrived, including his two daughters and four grandchildren, and others who had known Chris through conservation work also joined us. Chris's daughters scattered ashes around the tree and Ursula read a poem she had written. Then it was time for refreshments - tea, coffee and cake, including some delicious cupcakes which Chris's granddaughter had made. We were fortunate in that, despite quite windy weather, t...