Sunningwell Village Green, Saturday 15th of October 2022

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This week's blog post was written by the marvellous Sally G.!

Adrian was our session leader on Saturday, when we returned to the lovely village of Sunningwell.  The sun did not disappoint and it was a glorious autumnal day.  We soon separated into various groups - the pond and stream clearers, the scythers and the hedgelayers.

    The first task was to clear unwanted vegetation (mainly rosebay willowherb) from around the pond and stream to prevent it from taking over.  It was lovely to see how well the purple loosestrife was doing!  We were working under the guidance of Bob Evans and were also joined by a few of the villagers and much appreciated their help.  We had also been asked to clear around newly planted trees including two young elm trees, which are hopefully resistant to Dutch Elm disease and should do well near the stream, and Barbara set up one of the new Green Gym scythes to do this.
    Our other main task was to carry out some hedge-laying and Jim set forth with his trolley of hedgelaying tools which included two axes, two billhooks, a helmet complete with visor, knee pads and thorn-protective gauntlets.  Jim and Adrian had carried out a recce with Bob at the beginning of the week to see the hedge in question, which is at the top of Sunningwell Green.  It was an old gappy hawthorn hedge, which had probably last been laid 10 or more years ago, and Jim, Rosie and Sally set about clearing the undergrowth to allow access to the tree trunks.  We also had to remove any dead wood and free the tangled branches of the tree canopy.  Jim tackled the more challenging trees and gave each of us a turn in pleaching and then we all had a go at folding in any branches that were sticking out.  By break time, we had pleached about 2-3 metres of hedge and a red kite came to investigate what we were up to (or so it seemed!) as it wheeled overhead.
    At Bob's kind invitation, we made our way to his house where a terrific spread had been laid out - sandwiches, cake, biscuits, nuts, crisps, vegetarian sausage rolls and sausages - washed down with tea or coffee.  We were made to feel so welcome.  It was also lovely to chat to the locals who had come to help and to meet up with the other Green Gymmers.
    After break, we returned to our respective work areas and Graham and Barbara came to help Jim with the hedge laying.  We managed to do a couple of metres more.  The photos below show the various stages of pleaching and the challenge.  There is still plenty of hedge to be laid and we hope to return to continue where we left off. We also planted some native wild flowers, which had been donated by Camilla Lambrick to help improve the biodiversity of the field and included yarrow and self-heal. 
    A few of us stayed on after our usual end time to remove more rosebay willow herb and clear the arisings from around the stream before tucking into a packed lunch and then heading home.  What a super morning!  
Becoming one with the hedge

Goodies ready to be planted! 

The team gets to work

Hard hats necessary, and a fetching outfit accessory

Whispering to the hedge to gain its goodwill

The team on the village green


 



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