Abingdon Green Gym Blog

Blog by Eleanor, photos by Julio and Sally It was a lovely, sunny day, though frosty when we arrived at Kennington Memorial Field. This is chalk grassland, managed by Oxford Preservation Trust, and our task was to cut back scrub, mainly bramble and blackthorn which was encroaching on the grassland. Hannah from OPT had pointed out areas that she wanted us to tackle. Our task was somewhat limited by the fact that no less than four volunteers had called in sick that morning, meaning we had no scythers and nobody able to use a tree popper. However, there were still twelve of us so that made a good size workforce. We were pleased to welcome a new Green Gymmer, Jo, also Jeremy, who lives locally. Starting work Working on the bramble thicket Several people set to work on the bramble thicket, while Julio, Rhian, David and Jeremy tackled the thorny outliers, mostly blackthorn and hawthorn. David and Jeremy deal with an outlier Piles of cuttings Tackling a thorny bush Susan at work The thorny th...

Blog by Sally, photos by Eleanor and Sally.  Credit also to Dr Judy Webb for her fen desciption below. Thirteen Green Gymmers returned to Boundary House Fen on Saturday, 18 January, for our first ever official all day session, to resume the cutting and raking of reed, rush and other vegetation in order to allow light for seeds to germinate of more delicate and rare fen plants.  Many people do not realise, but Oxfordshire is one of the very few places in the world (yes, that's right, the world!) where alkaline (or calcareous) fens exist due to the county's complex geology and where a layer of limestone lies above impervious clay - and this combination of layers does not occur in many places, which makes alkaline fens so rare and precious.  Fens are continuously fed by springs.  For an alkaline fen to form, rain enters the soil in the catchment area and percolates slowly into the ground, becoming more acidic from the respiration of living plant roots and soil organisms...

Blog and photos by Sally On Saturday, 11 January, Abingdon Green Gym met for our A.G.M held at the Perry Room, All Saints Methodist Church, which was chaired by Eleanor.  14 people attended and over a cup of tea and biscuits we soon rattled through the business of the day.  The Committee was re-elected and we elected Philip as an ordinary member.  Adrian went through the sites and sessions that we had covered in 2024.  Our most frequent visits were to Boundary House Fen (10), followed by Hinksey Heights (6), Dry Sandford Pit Nature Reserve (4) and both ends of the Ock Path (4).  We also visited 7 different sites owned by Oxford Preservation Trust (10 visits).   Kevin and Carolyn generously hosted our lunch at their house, which was a veritable feast by all accounts!  Thanks were paid to all the Committee, to Kevin and Carolyn, and to everyone who contributed. The Feast!  

 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Julio It was a cold, frosty day when eleven brave Green Gymmers met in the car park of Dry Sandford Pit Nature Reserve for our first session of 2025. Our task was to work on the fen, scything and raking, cutting back sprouting trees, and in some cases, uprooting them with the tree popper. This will help preserve the ecology of this alkaline fen. We set up our encampment on the grass just above the fen and climbed down into it to start our work. A frosty fen  We had to take care crossing the areas of water, making sure they were not too deep. The sky was grey and cloudy, with no sunshine to warm us up. Starting work Raking Barbara scything More raking Carol carrying cut wood More work Our hands and feet were really cold and we were glad of our tea break especially as there were some Christmas goodies to share. A welcome tea break. Then it was back to work. Adrian showed no mercy and kept us hard at work until 12.30. We climbed out of the fen and jump...

Blog and photos by Sally We returned to Boundary House Fen on Frilford Heath Golf Course for the last session of 2024 to continue with the cut and rake of reed, rush and other vegetation, working under the direction of consultant ecologist, Rod d'Ayala.  The weather was not promising as the air was thick with moisture when we arrived, but it did not rain and it was not long before layers were being removed once we got working and the weather brightened a little - our spirits were not dampened. With eight trained scythers on the team, we managed to cut a lot of vegetation.  Rod reassured Lesley, "The Lone Raker", that she did not have to rake up all the cut vegetation as he would be helping, too and that it would be enough for her to rake it into sausage-shaped bundles as we would be returning in a few weeks' time.  The priority was to get the vegetation cut to allow light to seeds and other smaller plants, preventing them from being smothered, thereby increasing biodi...