Abingdon Green Gym Blog

Blog by Sally, photos by Eleanor, Kevin and Sally Nine Green Gymmers turned out for this week's session at Boundary House Fen on Frilford Heath Golf Course SSSI, led by Kevin.  As the gate to the compound car park had not been opened for us, we parked on the verge.  Kevin had parked further along the Abingdon Road, leading to Tubney, so we did not have to carry the tools with us.  As we walked by the side of the fairway there were lots of viper's bugloss in flower with its startling blue flowers, along with a carpet of birdsfoot trefoil (beloved of pollinators) and lady's bedstraw, a specialist of dry calcareous grassland, with its froth of tiny yellow flowers. We worked under the direction of consultant ecologist, Rod d'Ayala, who had arrived before us and had made a head start with brush-cutting the grassy slope leading from the tee to the fen itself.  Our main tasks were to continue with removing hemlock to prevent its incursion onto the fen, raking up the cut mat...

Blog by Eleanor, photos by Eleanor, Margaret and Julio It was a damp, cloudy start to our session as it had rained overnight, but conditions were set to improve. We were a smaller number than usual, but we were pleased to welcome two new Green Gymmers, Julio and Rhian. Our first task was to pull up Himalayan Balsam on the far side of the reserve, so we set off along the path towards the stream where most of it would be found. We set up camp and showed the newcomers a sample of what they would be looking for. There was a steep slippery slope to negotiate and then a shallow stream to cross. There were patches of Himalayan Balsam, but far less than before, so our work in previous years had paid off. Down the slippery slope Margaret among the balsam A close up of HB (not yet in flower) Himalayan Balsam roots, shallow, watery and easy to pull up Adrian at work Adrian bravely crossed to the other side of the stream, and, balanced on a small ledge, pulled up HB and threw it across to us. At l...

Blog by Sally, photos by Carolyn, Eleanor and Sally It was a double bubble this week as we returned to the adjacent sites of Abraham Wood (for our published task of small balsam pulling) and Old Berkeley Golf Course (to continue cutting the soft rush in the runnels all for the love of the ivy-leaved crowfoot), both of which are owned by Oxford Preservation Trust.  Twelve Green Gymmers met in Old Berkeley Road and we were joined by Richard, who leads the Chilswell Valley volunteers and has a rather keen interest in the survival of the diminutive ivy-leaved crowfoot, which made us a baker's dozen in total.  The weather was a little inclement to start with, but as the morning went on, the weather brightened for us. We divided into two groups - Eleanor led the main work party in the Wood which was tasked with seeking out small balsam, an invasive non-native plant related to the much larger Himalayan Balsam, but with small orange flowers.  It seeds prolifically and can soon co...

Blog by Eleanor, photos by Kevin and Eleanor                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Only eight Green Gymmers turned up for this session, where th...