Abingdon Green Gym Blog

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Eleanor, James, Julio and Sally On a fine Easter Saturday morning, we returned to Boundary House Fen on Frilford Heath Golf Course to continue with the cut and rake of the Fen.  We were led by Barbara and Dieuwke, two of our new leaders, who met us at the gate to the Greenkeepers' compound with all the tools that we would need for our session. We then made our way to our base where we met consultant ecologist, Rod d'Ayala, under whose direction we would be working.  We were last here on 14 February and we could see just how much the vegetation had grown. Boundary House Fen before work began Rod briefs the group on the tasks The main focus of the session was to finish off raking the cut vegetation from our last session and continue scything the pond sedge and rush.  Raking is important to ensure that nutrients do not build up as much of the fen flora does not thrive in nutrient rich soils and also to allow light for the emerging vegetation to...

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Carol, Julio, Margaret and Sally Twelve Green Gymmers turned out on a sunny spring morning to meet Stephanie Wilson from Natural England at Cothill School car park, where we were able to load our tools onto the back of Steph's van and make our way along String Lane, an old drover's road, to Cothill Fen, where Steph briefed us on the tasks for our session.  The Fen is owned by Natural England and sits adjacent to Parsonage Moor, which is owned by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (or BBOWT). Cothill Fen is one of the rare alkaline fens where specialist flora and fauna have evolved over millenia to adapt to the slightly less acidic conditions than are found on normal fens.  The spring water that feeds Cothill (and other alkaline or calcareous fens) percolates through a layer of chalk.  Sometimes, the chalk calcifies on the surface to form tufa, which is a bit similar to the limescale that builds up in our kettles. T...

We were back at Boars Hill again, this time working on Old Berkeley Golf Course and Abrahams Wood. We met by the gate in Berkeley Road, with Roger leading us for the first time. We made our way down to the runnel in the valley, where Rod gave us our instructions. He wanted us to scythe the rushes and rake them up and make dams and shallow pools. The aim is to rewet the area by allowing the water to spread out. This will be good for plants such as the rare ivy leaf Crowfoot. There wasn't much raking until the scythers had scythed, so he asked some of us to go into Abrahams Wood and cut back the laurel and rhododendron. There is always plenty to do, and the wood, once a private garden, is gradually returning to native woodland. The ground was covered with English bluebell plants and one or two flowers were already out. The wood will be spectacular in a few weeks' time. Meanwhile, the scythers and rakers were in action Simon and Philip began to build a dam across the runnel and di...