Matthew Arnold Field, Boars Hill - Saturday, 20th September 2025

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Blog and photos by Sally

We returned to Matthew Arnold Field at Boars Hill on Saturday, 20th September to continue the work of clearing bramble, bracken and saplings which are encroaching the acid grassland and, if left unchecked, would take over by preventing other plants from flourishing.  Kevin was our session leader and we worked under consultant ecologist, Rod d'Ayala's, direction.  There were ten Green Gymmers, three of whom scythed the bracken and bramble.  It was a little chilly to start with, but we soon warmed up.

Rod briefing the group

The area of the field to be cleared

Pulling up bracken 

Rod asked the scythers to cut areas of bracken around one bramble thicket, which it was decided to leave as habitat and continue working along the fence line.

Rosie scything 

Pulling up bracken, whilst Kevin in the background digs up tree saplings using the tree popper and a mattock

Rosie and Barbara scything a mixture of bracken and bramble

Ursula, Joan and Dieuwke continue clearing vegetation from around the bramble clump, as Kevin digs up more saplings

A welcome break!

Barbara presents James with his long-awaited Green Gym Beanie!

Rosie taking a moment to admire James' new hat as the sun comes out

Rod and Barbara worked on the other side of the fence after break

Two contented scythers:  Rosie and Barbara

A funnel fungus ... some are edible and some are poisonous!  We did not risk it!

The cleared area.  The cut vegetation was raked into neat rolls and stacked along the fence line.  This will create a great habitat for invertebrates.

Yes, it did warm up!  A perfect coathanger.

As we walked back to the path, we couldn't help but notice the common toadflax in the Field.

We look forward to returning to the site to continue the good work.


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