Thrupp Lake, 19th June 2021

By Andrew -

This session was held just a couple of days before Midsummer Day, but the weather was far from summery. It was a gloomy start at Thrupp Lake at Radley - a new site for us and another location managed by the Earth Trust.

We parked up in the lane beside the lake and waited for warden Tim (and apprentice, Beth) to arrive and unlock the gates to our assembly point beside the now-demolished 'Sandles' building. Tim gave his opening speech to the fifteen or so Green Gymmers gathered and outlined the tasks to be getting on with. There were a few to choose from. These included repairing a section of path that was prone to flooding, replacing a section of damaged perimeter fence, pulling of Himalayan Balsam and the lopping back of stray branches from the main path.

We divided up and got stuck in. The fence repair team were led by Beth and set off with some new fence posts - with new holes to be dug before setting them in place.

Tim was in charge of the path repair and instructed us to install a wooden board beside the water's edge, held in place with some small stakes, nailed together. Once the board was up, rubble was gathered from the pile by the car park and wheelbarrowed down to fill in the puddles.

Meanwhile, the balsam-pullers were unable to locate the patch of reported balsam by the old bird hide and returned empty handed! The lopper team was more successful and completed a circumnavigation of the lake.

By the end of the morning, the puddled section of path was looking much improved and a trio of fence posts had been sunk. A successful session!

-Andrew


Thrupp Lake.

The Lake itself.

The assembly.

Footpath in need of repair.

Barbara and the rubble pile.

Tim and Carolyn rake as Rosie supervises.

The fence repair team - Dan, Sally, Kevin, Graham and Beth.

Packing up.
Andrew with wheelbarrow (photo by Sally).

Barbara and Dieuwke on wheelbarrow duty (photo by Sally).

The fence repairers again (photo by Sally).

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