Abingdon Green Gym Blog

Blog by Eleanor.  Photos by Julio and Sally It was yet another warm, sunny Saturday when we met in the car park of Dry Sandford Pit, a former sand quarry, which is managed by BBOWT. A marsh helleborine with its seed pods A reed gall, often called a cigar gall because of the way the leaves are wrapped around the egg Roger, who was leader, briefed us on the three separate tasks we had been asked to do. We also welcomed a new volunteer, Fei. One task was to clear bramble and sprouting sycamore in the area by the entrance gate.  James, Ursula, Carol and Fei chose the task by the gate. Working by the gate T he main one, which most people chose to do, was to scythe and rake up the reeds on the fen and remove any sprouting alder trees. The fen Sally scything and Kevin removing the cut reed Half way there The third task was to clear vegetation from in front of the cliff faces. The sandy cliff faces contain many fossils, dating from the time when this area was a warm, shallow sea. Now,...

  Blog by Eleanor, photos by Julio, Sally and Eleanor It was another dry and sunny day when we met for our session at Boundary House Fen, part of Frilford Golf course.  There were eleven of us, with Kevin as leader.  Rod d'Ayala, who is in charge of the fen work, could not be there, but Judy Webb was, with her insect catching net, ready to identify all the invertebrates she could find. Judy We made our way alongside the golf course down to the fen. The grass looked very brown after six rainless weeks, apart from patches of green where golfers tee off. Apparently these have to be kept green. Kevin showed us the areas that needed to be scythed and raked, so the work began Kevin with a pitchfork full of cut vegetation Margaret makes a start scything Rhian next to the heap Rosie scything and Carolyn raking  Jim Rhian, Simon (if you can spot him!) and Margaret raking and scything  Another task was to uproot creeping thistles on the slope leading down to the fen and I...

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Julio and Sally We returned to Manor Farm in March on Saturday, 18th July for our second official session to pull Himalayan Balsam from near the Blackwater Stream.  We assembled in the farmyard and made our way with our waders plus a few tools, just in case, to our usual spot for base camp by the bench near the path. Our mission was simple:  to seek and destroy as many Himalayan Balsam plants as we could find.  We split into different groups to finish working in the areas where we had stopped a couple of weeks previously.  Although some of the Balsam plants were forming seed pods, they weren't ripe enough to pop when we pulled the plants off.  It was encouraging to note that we weren't therefore spreading any seeds as we worked. This marks our wayfaring point for where we work along the Blackwater Stream Sally briefs the group Carol, Dieuwke and Graham hard at work David and Rhian tackling the Himalayan Balsam Possible male banded ...

  This session saw one of our rare visits to the Tesco end of the Ock Path, reminding us that we are still ABINGDON Green Gym. There were twelve volunteers, including a newcomer, Chris, who had cycled all the way from Kennington.  Our main task was to pull up Himalayan Balsam, but, as usual in this area, there was plenty of litter to be picked up as well. Most of the balsam was by the path leading West to New Cut Mill, and that's where most of the group went, either into the woods on the left or into the ditch on the right, while Adrian went into the river to the bit by the small weir, fenced off by the Environment Agency, where the balsam is hard to get at, and where some people enjoy the challenge of throwing their cans and bottles, to preserve them for future generations. On the hunt for Himalayan Balsam and litter Dieuwke and newcomer Chris Joan Susan and Rhian I had spotted a smaller patch of balsam  at the other end of the path, just before the Ock Meadow.  It ...