Abraham Wood and Old Berkeley Golf Course, Boars Hill - Saturday, 15 June 2024

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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 cover the woodland floor, preventing native plants from growing.  Luckily, it is quite easy to pull up, but it involves a lot of bending!

Six of us tackled the main runnel area which we had worked on at our last visit on 4 May.  We were delighted to see that, after an unpromising start as some plants were very slow at getting started this year, the main patch of ivy-leaved crowfoot was about 30x larger now and we saw some of its tiny flowers.  Richard showed Kevin where to create dams to form pools for the crowfoot to flourish, whilst Barbara and Sally scythed the rush, which forms dense clumps defying anything else to grow!  After "decapitating" the rush clumps they were then dug out by Richard and Kevin and inverted to create dams.  Dieuwke and Roger raked up the cut material which was taken to an old heap.  The cattle had poached the runnel so we had to be careful where we put our feet, and both Kevin and Sally got stuck fast in the mud at one point and had to be rescued by Roger!

With cattle in the field and it being popular with walkers, Richard kindly offered to stay with our tools whilst we joined the rest of the Green Gymmers at break time.  As soon as we walked through the gate to Abraham Wood, we could see that everyone had been very busy with heaps of already wilting small balsam piled up, revealing bluebells going to seed.  Suitably refreshed after break, Roger, Barbara, Kevin and Sally returned to join Richard and we set off for the other runnel, where crowfoot used to grow, while the others continued to seek out small balsam in the Wood.

The cattle were rather curious and at first kept a wary distance whilst Barbara and Sally got scything and Richard started mattocking out cut rush tussocks to form another dam in the second runnel, but unfortunately, it was not long before we had to stop working as the cows and calves came closer and closer to us wondering what on earth we were doing.  Rather than risk injury to any of the animals if they came too close to the scythe blades, we decided we would stop early, so we cleared what we could and watched the cattle sup from the pooled water and munch the water cress as we retreated at a sedate pace.  We decided that next time, with the agreement of OPT, we would continue working on this runnel as we also needed to clear some scrub which had encroached, with the aim of restoring it to enable the ivy-leaved crowfoot to be reintroduced here, thereby increasing its chances of survival; this being the only place in Oxfordshire where it is known to thrive.  Because of nesting season, we can only cut back the scrub in autumn/winter, so as not to disturb any birds.

We then made our way back up to the slope to join everyone else as they emerged from the Wood and it was a delight to see the field shimmering with golden buttercups as the sun came out as we wound our way back to our cars and bicycles, all feeling as though we had done a good morning's work.

Ivy-leaved crowfoot

Richard and Kevin deciding on the best approach

Susan, Rosie and Michele having heaps of fun

Small Balsam

Richard mattocks out cut rush tussocks
Richard forming dams, which will still allow water to percolate

Barbara cutting soft rush, taking care to avoid the marsh thistle, which are great for pollinators

Rake's progress

A mucky business

From top to bottom:  Brooklime (of the Veronica (speedwell) family) contrasting with the ivy-leaved crowfoot
A six spotted burnet moth on the stem of a rather prickly marsh thistle (rather him than me!)

Break time

Foxgloves putting on a beautiful display

No wonder bees love 'em!

Making a start on the second runnel where ivy-leaved crowfoot used to flourish

Curious cows and calves investigating our handiwork

Testing the water as we make a tactical retreat!

A lesser stitchwort - the pink blobs are the anthers

Homeward bound

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