Abbey Fishponds, 1st October 2016

By Andrew -
There was a small team of seven volunteers from the Green Gym this Saturday, but we were supplemented with Lucy, Marjorie and four others from the Earth Trust which manage the Abbey Fishponds Nature Reserve - our venue for the Morning.

The forecast was not good, with rain most of the time, thankfully it remained intermittent, largely just spitting with a downpour only at the end.

We are regulars at this site and the task of raking and stacking the cut reeds is something that we have done often over the seasons.  We had two large areas to clear either side of the high bank which cuts across the reserve and where we decamp our equipment and have our coffee break.  One area was about 100m by 30m and the other about 50m by 50m.

We divided into two groups and set to it. The reeds hadn't become too wet - making it easier to move them, however, there were a lot to move!  It was just a question of finding the best system that worked, which was to raking the cut reeds towards the entrance of the pathways and then to pitch-fork them to where we were going to stack them.

We manage to clear half the area before the break. Then with the help of the reviving refreshments and the added effort to see the job through, we completed the task by the end of the session!
-Kevin
 
 
 
The start - ready, willing and able?

The task ahead

Getting stuck in

Margaret being thorough clearing the pathway

Janet in the distance starting at the other end

Maggs with a determined look on her face, thinking of the chocolate biscuits at break time!

Dieuwke in much need of chocolate biscuits and coffee!

The other team well on their way to completing their patch

No time to stop and pose for the camera

So far so good - half finished at the break

 
Job done!
 
 

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

Ock Valley Walk, Town End, 22nd June 2013

By Andrew -
Image
Quite a small group gathered for this session and the weather didn't look promising. However, we were pleased to welcome a new member, Laura. We set off for the woodchip path,where we made our encampment. The nettles had grown high and dense since our previous visit, almost concealing the young trees, compising beech, oak, silver birch, cherry and rowan, which we had planted as whips almost two and a half years previously. One of our tasks was to clear the nettles and other vegetation immediately around them. As you can see from the photo of the young cherry, most of the trees are flourishing. Other tasks were to cut up and clear fallen branches into piles and the inevitable litter picking. There was a sharp shower shortly before 11 o'clock but it had stopped when we gathered for a welcome tea break. By the end of the morning we had finished clearing round the trees, tidied away the dead wood and picked up quite a respectable amount of litter, though I suspect t
Read more