Abingdon Green Gym Blog

Blog and photos by Sally We returned to Boundary House Fen on Frilford Heath Golf Course for the last session of 2024 to continue with the cut and rake of reed, rush and other vegetation, working under the direction of consultant ecologist, Rod d'Ayala.  The weather was not promising as the air was thick with moisture when we arrived, but it did not rain and it was not long before layers were being removed once we got working and the weather brightened a little - our spirits were not dampened. With eight trained scythers on the team, we managed to cut a lot of vegetation.  Rod reassured Lesley, "The Lone Raker", that she did not have to rake up all the cut vegetation as he would be helping, too and that it would be enough for her to rake it into sausage-shaped bundles as we would be returning in a few weeks' time.  The priority was to get the vegetation cut to allow light to seeds and other smaller plants, preventing them from being smothered, thereby increasing biodi...

 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Sally This will be a shorter blog than usual as it's nearly Christmas and everyone has plenty of other things to do. We met at the entrance to the Ock path, with Kevin as our leader, and made our way to our usual encampment on the woodchip path. There were ten volunteers in the end, some arriving later than others. The tasks were litter picking and clearing the scattered bits of trees and fallen branches which had resulted from the storms of late November and early December. We also wanted to clear around the memorial tree, where some spring bulb shoots were already showing. There was certainly plenty of litter to pick up, including large numbers of drinks cans. There was some fly tipping too, including a sofa and a shopping trolley in the river, which we were unable to get at. Several passers by thanked us for our efforts, and one man told us how he and his neighbours had done a litter pick in the adjoining Tower Close area. Someone spotted a kingfisher...

 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Julio It was a lovely, sunny day, a pleasant change after the wind, rain or at best cloudy skies of the past few weeks. It was a very good turnout, sixteen of us in total. We were pleased to welcome Carol, new to the area and Jan, back after a long absence. Our task was to remove brambles and other vegetation from in front of the cliff faces. Dry Sandford Pit, now managed by BBOWT is a former quarry and the cliff faces reveal a number of fossils of shells. We also had to be careful not to get too close to the cliff faces, as there was a chance of rock falls after the recent heavy rain. We made our way to the cliff faces carrying our tools and saw there was plenty of work to be done. The cliff face We spread out along the cliff face and set to work, cutting back brambles with loppers and slashers, Sally and Barbara working with their scythes. We had also brought the tree popper, which is very useful for uprooting saplings Soon there was plenty of raking a...

Blog by Sally and Photos by Philip and Sally On Saturday, 7 December, we were due to go to Matthew Arnold Field, next to Jarn Heath, one of the Boars Hill sites owned by Oxford Preservation Trust, but unfortunately Storm Darragh put paid to that idea and the session was cancelled for safety reasons.  But all was not lost, as Adrian had arranged our Christmas lunch for that day and 15 of us, including guest Steph from Natural England, with whom we work at Cothill Fen, assembled in The Spread Eagle in Abingdon for a lovely feast. Lots of lovely Christmas jumpers and festive jewellery was on display, but the best prize had to go to Dieuwke for her wonderful Christmas pudding sunglasses! Huge thanks to Adrian for arranging the meal, which we look forward to working off next Saturday when, all being well, we should be at Dry Sandford Pit Nature Reserve. Wishing all blog readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Michele, James, Susan, Philip, Rosie, Ursula, Adrian and Lesley M...

Blog by Sally.  Photos by David, Michele, Julio and Sally The sun shone for the our last session of the autumn programme at Lashford Lane Nature Reserve, which is owned by our local Wildlife Trust, BBOWT.  Thirteen of us assembled in the little car park off Lashford Lane where Adrian, our leader for the session, gave instructions as we gathered up our tools and welcomed new member, Carol, to the group. We made our way through to the Calcareous Fen area, which makes up the Cothill Fen complex, and set up our base camp, noting the tide mark of leaves and other debris that showed the extent of the recent flooding following heavy rainfall on our way.  We'd been asked by Beth from BBOWT to clear a 3m strip along a runnel for flying insects, possibly including the southern damselfly which is at its northernmost reach here in Oxfordshire, and the adults prefer open runnels.   Equipped with bowsaws, loppers and scythes, we made our way across the fen area and traversed ...

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Julio and Sally On Saturday, 23 November, six intrepid Green Gymmers set out for Boundary House Fen on Frilford Heath Golf Course SSSI despite the threat of rain and heavy gusts of wind heralding the arrival of Storm Bert, where we met up with Dr Judy Webb and Rod d'Ayala under whose direction we worked. The weather had not deterred all golfers, either.  After making our way back along the track and down the path at the side of the fairway with our tools, we made camp in the usual place near the tee at the road side end of the Fen.  JimB had gone on ahead with his scythe and by the time we arrived with the rest of the tools, he had already started scything where we left off last time.  Rod explained that our task today was to cut as much of the rank vegetation (mainly rush, sedge and reed), which we then used to pack into one of the ponds that had been created on the fen and also the ditch that runs in the middle.  The intention is to r...