Stonehill House, 11th May 2013

By Andrew -
Stonehill House, on the Southern edge of Abingdon, was a new site for us. Our planned visit in March had been postponed but at least the weather was better than on that date, though certainly not perfect. The current owner of Stonehill House is keen to have community groups working there and as well as aiming to make the grounds a haven for wildlife there are ongoing gardening and art projects projects and a beautifully restored barn for events and courses.

 Our tasks were to remove tree guards from young trees and to tidy up the woodland. We split into two groups with one group in the woodland clearing fallen branches, making habitat piles and cleaing vegetation from the informal footpath through the wood and the other group setting to work on the tree guards.

At coffee break time we were joined by our German friends, Bernd and Ursula, who were paying us a farewell visit before returning to Dresden. We had also found out that it was Victor's birthday so we managed to conjure up a surprise birthday cake. We swapped jobs after the break as tree guard removal loses its thrill after the first fifty or so. There were certainly far too many to be removed in a single session.

The grounds of Stonehill House are certainly a haven for wildlife. We spotted a roe deer running across the field and Sally came across a fawn concealed in the grass. There are a number of badger sets and on our way back Mark, the resident gardener and naturalist, let us look through his telescope at a red kite on her nest. It was interesting to work on a new site and we hope to visit it again soon.
-Eleanor
Sally sawing wood

German visitor, Ursula

Victor removing tree guards

a view of Stonehill house beyond the gardens

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pinkhill Meadow Nature Reserve, Farmoor Reservoir, 16th March 2019

By Andrew -
Image
Another week, another new site for the Abingdon Green Gym! We met at the car park at Farmoor Reservoir, a healthy turn out of 17 of us, including French father Sebastien, and his eleven-year old son, Maelo, who was joining us for a school project. The session was led by James under the instruction of Hanna Jenkins, the warden of Pinkhill Meadow Nature Reserve, so called because it is right on the banks of the River Thames, just near Pinkhill Lock. It was another blustery day. Will this crazy wind ever let up? We followed Hanna in convoy round the edge of the reservoir, which was choppy to say the least, and parked up on the other side where it was thankfully a little calmer, the high banks of the reservoir providing some shelter. Equipped with our tools, gloves and goggles, we made our way onto the spot on the nature reserve where we were to do our work. Hanna told us that the reserve had been formed in 1991, but some aspects had been neglected over the last ten years. The aim...
Read more

Kennington Memorial Field, 29th October 2016

By Andrew -
We have been working at Kennington Memorial Field for a number of years now, clearing scrub from the slopes so that the valley remains an area of grassland and wild flowers. This time Rachel from Oxford Preservation Trust was in charge and led us down to the lower end of the field, where we were to cut back the trees and bushes by several metres and burn the scrub on a bonfire. We were joined by some families with children of varying ages, the youngest only three, who had answered a local appeal for volunteers. We set to work and soon we had a bonfire going. Even the children who were too young to use loppers and saws joined in, carrying branches to the bonfire pile. Despite the drizzly weather they all worked cheerfully. At tea break time we enjoyed some delicious snacks that Rachel had brought and a tin of chocolates supplied by Michele. We found two old birds' nests in the course of the morning and cutting back the scrub revealed a log pile with a rabbit hole under...
Read more

Jarn Mound and Wild Garden, Boars Hill, 12th November 2016

By Andrew -
Image
Four weeks after our last session with the Oxford Preservation Trust at Boars Hill, we returned, albeit at Jarn Mound this time rather than the Elizabeth Daryush Garden; which had been our venue in October. We again met with  Rachel Sanderson of the trust, who along with our leader of the day, James, outlined the tasks for the morning.  Primarily, we were to clear the mound itself of scrub and tree saplings that had taken root there, with the intention of restoring it to its original state.  There were also some flatter areas of the garden that required clearing, for the less intrepid among us. Unfortunately, the day had begun a little on the inclement side.  Indeed as we arrived, the rain fell persisently, making many of us wonder if the session would go ahead at all!  But of course, the Green Gymmers are renowned for working whatever the weather, and the damp conditions did not deter us. A couple of problems were immediately evident due to the rain...
Read more