Dry Sandford Pit, Saturday 8th of October, 2022

By -

This Saturday, the Abingdon Green Gym team were at Dry Sandford Pit. With bright blue skies and little breeze, it was a wonderful morning to don our favourite pairs of wellies and wade out into the SSSI fen. As we arrived, avid scyther Jim spotted a fox slinking off, and a large muntjac deer. Eleanor D. was our leader for the session, and by the bench which overlooked the fen she gave us our instructions for the day. Our task for the morning was to cut back as many saplings as possible, and to use the cut materials to build up the dead hedge.

    The fen was a little tricky to navigate with its hidden rocks and squelchy mud, but since the dry weather of the summer there was not so much water as to make it unnavigable. The team split into two halves to tackle the fen from two sides, and everyone worked hard to tiptoe their way through the fen and ferry their cuttings to the side. 

    There was lots of sunbathing at breaktime in the autumn sun as we all sat around and had our drinks and snacks. The second half of the session was then mostly occupied with weaving the cut saplings in and out of the pre-existing dead hedge, making sure that no members we trapped in the fen as we closed off the gaps! 




Fungi foraging

Spot the green gymmers

Autumn colours

Shaggy ink cap

The sun shining down on the Dry Sandford stream



Sunny breaktime

A beautifully formed dead hedge 

Jim escapes 

The last few minutes before the gap is closed

An autumnal fen 

A little lilac fungus


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