Abingdon Green Gym Blog

This week's blog post was written by our brilliant Green Gym chair, Eleanor D.!:  A large group of Green Gymmers, fourteen in all, assembled in the yard at the Riding for the Disabled centre in Southmoor.  Our main task was to clear a ditch with a stream running through it so the water could flow freely, and this would prevent the fields from being flooded. There was also some help needed with fencing and Graham went to give a hand with that. There were a lot of leaves in the ditch and these needed to be raked out. Some of us scrambled down the bank and set to work removing vegetation from the stream bed , all of this while standing in about eight inches of water. Others stood at the top of the bank and raked the cut material through the fence or cut back brambles and overhanging branches. We were spoilt at break time with coffee and tea provided for us by RDA as well as delicious cakes.  As well as about nineteen horses, some of which you can see in the photos, RDA has t...

This week's blog post is a joint effort from the dazzling Eleanor D. and the chivalrous Kevin T.: This Saturday saw us once again at Boundary House Fen working under the direction of Rod d’Ayala.   Kevin, the session leader drove along the road and parked next to the fen, which saved us having to carry the tools from the greenkeeper’s compound.  It was a lovely, sunny morning, which made all the difference.  The scythers set to work cutting the reeds, as directed by Rod while the rest of us raked them up or moved the existing heaps on drag sheets to the pond and the stream. Meanwhile, Jim had already started work scything the vegetation on the bank above the fen.  We had four scythers in total to make a concerted effort - the ground was very muddy with the heavy rain making it a bit tricky moving the cut reeds, but we seemed to establish a system of going in teams for best effect!   At tea break time, Michele, who had been delayed by a malfunctioning central hea...

This week's blog post was written by eminent chair Eleanor D.! This site in Old Headington, managed by Oxford Preservation Trust, was a new one for us. It consists of a long abandoned allotment site, which will be transformed into a nature reserve.      There were only nine Green Gymmers at this session, but we were joined during the morning by some local residents. The site was completely overgrown so the work was only just beginning. Charlie from OPT listed the tasks that needed to be done.  Vegetation had to be cleared from the path leading down to the site, widening it sufficiently for working cars to get down there. Adrian had already done some cutting back, so there was plenty of material to be carried down to the site, where some people set to work constructing a dead hedge at the top end bordering the back fence of the neighbouring garden. There was also a huge amount of bramble by the gate, which needed cutting back and an old compost bin made of palettes to...

 This week's blog post was written by the wonderful Kevin T!:  The Abingdon Green Gym have been going to Cothill Fen for a least a dozen years which is when I started, and is a popular site, although many a member have got a boot full of muddy water (me included) from the swampy parts of the Fen! Stef Wilson from Natural England was there to instruct us on the morning's tasks, which were mainly to move the cut reeds onto the causeways/dams to filter the water coming off the farmland and streams. Reed raking and cutting is one of the AGG's regular jobs on any of the fens we work on, so everybody knew what was required. The rain held off making the job reasonably pleasant, and we spread ourselves out on each side of the pond dragging or pitch forking the reeds where needed. We had one scyther keeping us going and a couple of us lopping the new growth of alder that had sprung up this summer. It was quite a strenuous work. There was also a requirement to assemble the floating p...

This week's blog post was written by AGG Chair, Eleanor D.!:  Once again we were at Hinksey Heights Nature Reserve, this time working in a completely different area from last. John Brimble, the owner, showed us two places next to the approach road to the golf course, where he wanted the brambles and some willow trees cut right back. He was planning to use the cut material to fill in some gaps in the hedge where people were cutting through from the footpath.      We split into two groups to tackle the upper and lower areas. The brambles in the upper patch were very thick and we realised the scythes and slashers would be needed as well as loppers. We were entertained during this task by two sheepdogs being trained to round up sheep on the other side of the fence.      After the break, during which we discovered that the tarpaulin that people were sitting on was no longer very waterproof, most of us went down to the lower area leaving Adrian to finish off...