Abbey Fishponds, 6th February 2016

By Andrew -
The weather forecast for the day was terrible and would have struck fear into the hearts of many conservation groups, but Abingdon Green Gymmers are made of sterner stuff and ten of us met for the work party at Abbey Fishponds. We were also joined by a group of six from the Earth Trust.

It was still raining at the start but the rain soon eased off and stopped and although we didn't see the sun, it remained dry for the rest of the session.

The tasks were to cut back a large bramble patch, to move some branches and brash to a new location in the woodland and to mend the willow fence along the top path with branches from the willow coppicing in the reed bed . We split into groups for these various jobs. The fence repair proved difficult as many of the uprights were missing or rotting.

After the tea break the Earth trust volunteers brought newly cut willow stakes, which we sharpened and they banged in with a heavy mallet so then then the weaving was much easier and the fence much stronger.

Towards the end of the session the wind increased and by the time we were on the way home heavy rain returned and continued for the rest of the day. So once again, Green Gym luck with the weather had held.
-Eleanor


Kristine and Ursula tackle the bramble patch

Barry gets down to some sawing

Carolyn transports branches

Kate and Dieuwke start on the fence repair

A well earned tea break

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