Abingdon Green Gym Blog

 Blog and photos by Eleanor Only nine volunteers attended the session on this Summer Solstice day. Maybe everyone else had joined the Druids, hippies and alternative folk at Stonehenge - who knows? There had been a flurry of rain after the heatwave, but it was still very warm and humid. Our main tasks were to cut back the vegetation, mainly nettles, encroaching on the woodchip path, clear round the young trees and, as usual in this area, pick up litter. A few people volunteered for this latter task. A slight setback was when we found that the resident mice in Sally's garage had chewed holes in the blue rubbish bags. Carol very practically knotted the ends, so we could still use them. The others set to work cutting back the vegetation. Cutting back along the path Kevin cut back willow overhanging the main path, which could get in the way of cyclists or tall walkers.    Kevin with an armful of willow. At 11 o'clock we reassembled for our tea break. the litter pickers return...

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Julio, Margaret, Michele and Sally On Saturday, 14th June, 18 Green Gymmers descended upon BBOWT's Dry Sandford Pit Nature Reserve for the first Himalayan Balsam pulling session of the year and to cut back some low growing bramble to prevent an area of grassland known as the Paddock from turning to scrub.  A few people also cut back overhanging vegetation from pathways and from around gates, as this is a popular place for people (and their dogs) to walk.  It was a gloriously warm, sunny morning so time for sun hats and sun cream! BBOWT's information board As the two areas which we had been asked to focus on - the Himalayan Balsam pulling along the stream and the paddock area are a distance apart - and because only two people wished to scythe the bramble patch, Kevin was asked to jointly lead and look after the HB pulling group. The briefing in the car park Allocation of work sites.   Having shown the group the bramble patch, we set up a...

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Eleanor, Julio and Sally For the first session of our summer programme, on 7th June, we went to Abraham Wood, which is one of the Boars Hill sites owned by Oxford Preservation Trust.  This lovely wood on the Boars Hill escarpment immediately adjacent to Old Berkeley Golf Course is beset by problems with invasive species including non-native species such as bamboo, laurel and small balsam and the native pendulous sedge and holly, all of which in their own way block out light or spread such that other native flora find it difficult to compete.  We had a good turnout of 15 Green Gymmers, led by Eleanor, who asked us to split into two groups, the first to pull up small balsam and the second was tasked with removing the flowering stems of pendulous sedge (which give it its name) to prevent them from producing babies. Abraham Wood - a beautiful bluebell wood Eleanor briefs the group   Small Balsam - it might look harmless, but it spreads rapidly f...

 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Sally and Eleanor There was a change to the original tasks at Hinksey Heights Golf Course and Nature Trail. We were supposed to fill in the gaps in the hedges so that walkers would keep to the footpath, but the hedging material had not arrived. Instead, we were asked to clear brambles from one area at the side of the access road, to clear encroaching vegetation from the sides of the trail and to clean the signage and interpretation boards and reposition them in the ground if necessary. There were eleven of us that morning. Roger and Jim volunteered to do the bramble clearing while the rest of us, after walking up the trail to the picnic benches by the pond, had the less strenuous other tasks. There were many walkers (and some runners) out along the trail on this warm, sunny morning. one embarrassed dog walker had let their dog go in the pond. This is very bad news as flea powder on dogs kills aquatic life. Some people apply flea powder regularly to their...