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Parsonage Moor - Saturday 24th September 2026

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The location and its habitats   Fifteen Green Gymmers met in the Cothill car park for our session at Parsonage Moor, which is next to Cothill Fen but looked after by BBOWT, whereas Natural England is in charge of Cothill Fen. Meeting and briefing with Adrian It was grey and slightly drizzly as we set off along the track with our tools. After going through the gate we walked along the boardwalk until we found a suitable place for our encampment.  There was plenty of evidence of the ponies, which are grazed here for part of the year. Gardeners and allotmenteers should have brought a sack for some free manure. Adrian, our session leader, briefed us on the tasks. There was scything and raking to be done and sprouting trees and bushes to be cut down. This is necessary to preserve the fen habitat. We left the boardwalk and made our way across the soggy fen to the far side. The scythers set to work, while the rest of us began lopping, sawing, raking and carrying to the heaps. We...
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Lincombe Lane Field, Boars Hill - Saturday, 17th October 2026

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Blog by Sally.  Photos by Julio and Sally On a very bright, sunny morning, we returned to Lincombe Lane Field, which is one of the Boars Hill sites owned and managed by Oxford Preservation Trust.  This was our third visit to the site and it is great to see the progress being made in restoring the fen area as well as improving the grassland, which is grazed by a few ponies. Jim making a new friend! We met consultant ecologist, Rod d'Ayala, and his colleague, Steve Gregory, on site.  Altogether, there were 19 of us, including local residents, Rebecca and her daughter, Eva.  The ponies were fenced off so that they could be kept safely away from our tools. The field was looking green after a smattering of rain, following four or five heatwaves over the summer months. Rod briefs the group.   Looking down to the area of fen that we would be working on There were a number of tasks for us to do, including removing pendulous sedge, which although a native wet woodla...
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Thrupp Green, Radley Lakes Reserve - Saturday, 10th October 2026

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This Saturday's task was to scythe and rake Thrupp Green, part of the Radley Lakes reserve.  It was a huge task, but the eighteen Green Gymmers were joined by several Radley Lakes and Naturalists Green Team volunteers. We set off on the half mile trek along the former railway track, carrying our tools. Once again, it was a beautiful sunny day.  When we arrived at the site, David outlined the tasks.  First we needed to cut a path beside the woodland edge to get down to the main area to be scythed. There was also a lot of sprouting willow to be uprooted. This was a massive task, even with a big mattock. Fortunately, we had brought our tree popper. Meanwhile the scythers got on with scything the main area as well as around the willow trees. This is an area of flat grassland next to a shallow lake. Soon there was plenty to rake up. We piled this in heaps just inside the woodland area. At last it was time for a welcome tea break with plenty of biscuits and other goodies. There...
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Cothill Fen National Nature Reserve - Saturday, 3rd October 2026

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Blog by Sally.  Photos by Margaret, Michele and Sally On a fine, but cloudy autumnal morning, thirteen Green Gymmers met Steph from Natural England in Cothill School car park.  We donned wellington boots and transferred the tools from Adrian's car to Steph's trailer and we made our way along String Lane to Cothill Fen NNR.  This is a calcareous or alkaline fen, where the spring-fed water percolates through a layer of chalk, thereby reducing the acidity.  These are extremely rare habitats and we are blessed to have a number in Oxfordshire.   The Natural England monthly volunteer party had worked on the Fen the previous day, so Adrian, our leader for the session, explained that there was some raking for us to do and some scything of reed to finish off.  We were also tasked with digging up holly seedlings from the wood, as if they were allowed to grow, they would block out light from the understorey, which would mean fewer bluebells.  Another task wa...
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