Cothill Fen, 11th May 2019

By Andrew -
Today was the battle of the bluebells versus goosegrass. Fifteen of us turned up for today’s session at Cothill Fen, led by Kevin with Judy Webb from Natural England. It was a beautiful sunny day as we made our way from the carpark to the site with our tools. The fen looked stunning, finally coming back to its natural state after all the hard work that’s been done there over the years.

We made base camp under the trees and Judy announced the morning’s tasks. The first was to remove a log pile a few metres distant as it was sitting on some pignut which was trying to grow. Pignut, a little white-flowered plant, is an ancient woodland flower and the more of it the better. In case we were wondering where the ‘nut’ is on this plant, Judy explained that this refers to the tuber underground, which pigs would dig down to do eat. People have also turned to them as a source of food over the centuries in times of starvation.

Other than this, the main task was to pull up the endless amounts of goosegrass which has been growing vigorously in the woodland surrounding the fen, overwhelming the bluebells. There were also some wild gooseberries to be pulled. We set to work, briefly discussing the merits of Himalayan Balsam pulling (last week’s task) with goosegrass pulling – and the general consensus was that the HB is the more satisfying, goosegrass being a bit more fiddly. Very quickly we had built up piles of the stuff, which – as it hasn’t yet come into seed – we could leave to rot down. As with the HB, if we stick at it for a few years, we should be able to eradicate it completely from the woodland.

After tea break, we went back to our tasks and in the patch of woodland where she was working Michele startled a pheasant out of her nest, to reveal eleven eggs. We moved away from the area, hoping the pheasant would soon return.

All in all it was a lovely session spent in dappled sunlight amidst a carpet of bluebells. What better way to spend a morning?
-Joanna



Photos by Joanna (except last two, by Michele):

















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