Posts

By -
Image
 Publicity meeting with   Layla Moran M.P., Ock Valley Walk   -   Thursday 21st May 2026 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Julio and Kevin This was a special event, not on our usual Green Gym day. We had received an invitation to meet Layla Moran, M.P. for Oxford West and Abingdon, to publicise the launch of the Healthy Ageing Inquiry report. Layla is chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee, which prepared the report. We decided that our best option was to hold the event at the Town end of the Ock Path, where we could  finish renewing the woodchip path, a task we had been unable to complete in April due to insufficient woodchip. View of the northern branch of the Ock Six Green Gymmers arrived for this event, and we started work shovelling woodchip into the wheelbarrow, pushing it along, tipping it out and raking it, tasks at which we are very skilled. Ursula and Carolyn with shovels Ursula and Carolyn loading woodchip We were joined by Dr Muir Gray, medic...
Post a Comment
Read more

Boundary House Fen - Saturday, 16th May 2026

By -
Image
Blog by Sally.  Photos by Julio and Sally On a fine May morning, 16 members of Abingdon Green Gym assembled at Boundary House Fen on Frilford Heath Golf Course SSSI to continue with its restoration.  The fen is calcareous, which is an extremely rare habitat.  The spring water that feeds the fen percolates over a large catchment area and through a layer of chalk, where it picks up calcium.  Under the chalk is a layer of impervious clay and the spring water then has to find a way through sand and gravel to the surface where it can form tufa (which is a bit like the limescale in our kettles).  Sadly, this fen is under the very real threat of the possibility of a quarry, as two fields near the Golf Course in the fen catchment area have been let to a firm of gravel extractors.  If this sand extraction goes ahead, it will impact the hydrology of the fen disastrously.  However, we didn't want to think about this today, but focus on the job in hand. Roger was ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dry Sandford Pit - Saturday 9th May 2026

By -
Image
     Blog by Eleanor, Photos by Sally, Henry and Eleanor                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lincombe Lane Field, Boars Hill - Saturday, 2 May 2026

By -
Image
Blog by Sally.  Photos by David, Michele and Sally We had a very good turnout, with 17 Green Gymmers, for our second visit to Lincombe Lane Field, one of the Boars Hill sites owned by Oxford Preservation Trust.  Once again, we were lucky with the weather - it was a beautiful spring day.  We met consultant ecologist, Rod d'Ayala, under whose direction we worked and made our way down the field with the various tools for the jobs which Rod had listed for us.  The field slopes towards the village of Sunningwell.  At the bottom of the field, there is a wood and part of our task is to restore that to fen.  On this visit, however, we were limited in what we could do as it is bird nesting season, so we could only work in certain areas and do limited tasks which meant that we wouldn't disturb any. Rod briefs the group We had three main tasks.  One was to cut and rake the nettle slope, removing any stray hemlock plants.  The second was to dig up hemlock fro...
Post a Comment
Read more