Abingdon Green Gym Blog

 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Eleanor and Margaret Once again, we were at Boundary House Fen. There were thirteen of us this time and we made our way along the edge of the course by the hedge to the fen area. The scythers sharpened their scythes and set to work clearing a pathway down to the fen and cutting the reeds in the area on the fen designated by Rod. The rakers and pitchforkers were instructed to put the cut reeds in the ditch or pile them onto the existing heaps under the trees.  Here are some photos of the work: Work begins Jim scything Cutting a path Dieuwke raking reeds on to a drag sheet On the other side of the fen Attacking the reeds Who is under this load? - the masked Green Gymmer A big heap At tea break we celebrated Margaret's birthday with a card and a rendition of "Happy Birthday" in various keys. Tea break. Margaret with her birthday card At 12.30 we packed up our tools and made our way back to the car park, and from there, some of us went to refresh o...

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Julio and Sally As promised, we returned to Marcham on the evenings of Monday, 21st (nine of us) and Tuesday, 22nd (four of us) July with the intention of removing Himalayan Balsam from the ditch along Mill Road, having concentrated our efforts along the stream that runs parallel to the fields of Manor Farm in our two scheduled sessions earlier this month.   Rhian and Margaret choose their sections of the ditch at the start of the session A very relaxed effort - playing peek-a-boo with Margaret! Once we'd cleared the main stretch of the ditch along the road, we continued further along working behind the ditch.  It was thirsty work as we struggled against nettles, bramble and bindweed.   Margaret, Sally, Lesley and Rhian getting down to it David and Sally tackling Himalayan Balsam growing in amongst the pond sedge  The cleared ditch after our efforts The HB Demolition Squad On Tuesday, four of us returned to finish clearing tha...

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Julio and Sally On Saturday, 19 July, we returned to Manor Farm in Marcham to continue with pulling Himalayan Balsam from the stream that runs behind one of the fields.  It was rather a drizzly morning following a spell of sometimes unseasonably warm weather, but that did not dampen our spirits.  There were 13 of us.  We gathered in the farmyard. Assembling in the car park As we did a couple of weeks' ago, we walked along Mill Road and ignored the Himalayan Balsam ("HB") growing in the ditch, as we knew we would be able to return to pull this one evening, and made our way to our usual spot for our base, taking advantage of the bench.  We then made our way along the field margin and split into two groups continuing where we had left off at our last visit. Himalayan Balsam towering over the other vegetation before we started pulling Taking full advantage of the low stream levels, Simon was able to tackle the monster HB Native vegetation -...

 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Sally and Eleanor It was a very hot day, the peak of the third heatwave this Summer, so it was remarkable that ten Green Gymmers braved the heat to come to this session. The main task was pulling up Himalayan Balsam, but we also needed to scythe reeds to widen part of the path to New Cut Mill, cut some overhanging branches and encroaching brambles and litter pick. The litter situation was particularly bad between Tesco and the Ock Meadow, while the Himalayan Balsam was between Tesco and New Cut Mill. We made our encampment in the wooded area next to the path. Setting up base camp David and Joan set off to do litter picking, Kevin went along the path cutting back brambles and overhanging branches, Sally went to do some scything and the others set to work on the Himalayan Balsam. Very soon the seed pods will ripen and pop, scattering seeds everywhere, so it is important to pull up as many plants as possible before this happens. Dieuwke with a massive plant...

Blog by Sally, photos by Julio and Sally We know it is summer, when it is time for Himalayan Balsam (HB) pulling, which was what we'd been asked to do at Manor Farm in Marcham on Saturday, 5 July.  18 Green Gymmers assembled in the farmyard and then made our way along the lane to our usual spot for setting up base camp by a well-appointed bench.  We always seem to be free of spirit for HB pulling with only gloves and wellingtons needed, a couple of loppers and a bow saw just in case, the tarpaulin, first aid kit and, of course, the Green Gym biscuits being all that we required to get the job done. We'd been enjoying a lovely spell of sunny weather, but the forecast for Saturday promised the chance of rain.  We met under a cloudy sky: Pointing the way We'd seen plenty of HB growing along the ditch by the lane, but as this is on public land, we made our way to the field and walked by the stream, where HB grows on both sides.  Following the recent dry weather, the earth...