Cothill Fen, 15th December 2012
For our final session of 2012 we returned to Cothill Fen. As has been the case on many occasions this year, the heavy rain of the previous day had made way for bright sunshine as we assembled in the car park opposite the Merry Miller pub. Here we met BBOWT site manager, Martyn Lane who outlined the morning's tasks. We heard that earlier in the week, reeds had been cut and required raking, and some of the trees and shrubs encroaching upon the edge of the fen - mostly hazel and silver birch, required cutting back. A short walk along the lane to the site followed, carrying the tools, while negotiating all the mud and many puddles! Upon arrival, we were shown the area that required raking and the volunteers split into several groups - either raking up and stacking the grass and reeds or cutting back the trees and saplings. Due to the nature of the fen and because of all the recent rain, conditions underfoot were soggy to say the least. Despit...