Abraham Wood, Boars Hill - Saturday 3rd February 2024

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Blog by Eleanor, Photos by Sally and Eleanor

Abraham Wood, on Boars Hill, next to the Old Berkeley Golf Course is an Oxford Preservation Trust site. It used to be part of a private garden, and the aim is to return it to natural woodland, which means taking out laurel. We were also asked to take out holly, which is sprouting everywhere. There is also some bamboo by the top end of the wood. We tackled this a few years ago, but we still need to look out for the occasional sprouts and remove them. The wood is at its best in late April to early May, when it is covered in English bluebells (hyacinthoides non scripta).

Numbers were quite low with only eight of us, but we were joined by two OPT volunteers, Pasindu and Peter. The weather was cloudy but mild as we made our way down to the wood. One of the tasks was to clear brambles from around the entrance gates. Sally set about tackling these with her scythe and I joined her to pick up the heaps and transfer them to a brash pile inside the gate. The others set to work cutting back laurel and cutting back and uprooting holly.

At break time we had a convenient tree trunk to sit on and we had an extra special treat as Dieuwke had brought some Ferrero Rocher chocolates to celebrate her return to Green Gym after a bicycle accident. We had to get back to work and a few of us swapped jobs, with Jan going to help Sally with bramble bashing, this time inside the entrance gate. There were only a few sprigs of bamboo which had crept through from the private garden at the top of the wood, so these were soon dealt with. 

At 12.30 it was time to finish, so we gathered up the tools and made our way back to the road.

Brambles around the entrance to the wood



Cutting back laurel

Lesley attacking the holly

Stacking the holly

Peter and Pasindu shifting the holly

Eleanor cutting back holly around the entrance


Tea break on a convenient tree trunk


Jan and Sally clearing brambles

The cleared entrance

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