Thrupp Green, Radley Lakes - Saturday 4th October 2025

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 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Kevin, David and Sally

Our task this session was to work at Thrupp Green, part of the Radley Lakes area. Radley Lakes consists of former gravel pits, most of which were filled with fly ash from Didcot (formerly coal fired) Power Station, apart from Thrupp and Bullfield Lakes, which were saved from this fate. Kevin was our leader, but David Guyoncourt was in charge of the project.

Thrupp Green consists of a shallow lake bordered by a wet meadow and our task was to scythe and rake up reeds, grass and melilot, a bushy plant in the pea family, which has taken over a large part of the area. By cutting this back, we hope to encourage more plant diversity and open up areas suitable for ground nesting birds such as lapwings.

We had quite a long walk along the old railway track, carrying our tools, but at last we arrived. The weather was dry and quite sunny, but with a brisk, gusty wind.

Arriving at Thrupp Green





Before photo - a massive task ahead




Melilot


The scythers set to work.

Rosie with her scythe





More scything




Loading on to drag sheets




Raking on to drag sheets - the lake in the background.



One problem we faced was the sudden gusts of wind, especially near the lake. Disaster occurred when a drag sheet, which we thought was loaded down with sufficient vegetation, suddenly flipped over and blew into the lake, sailing across to the other side so fast that it was impossible to rescue it.

Working by the lake.





By now we were ready for our tea break

Sitting on the bank above the work site



Then it was back to work.

The area is getting clearer






... and clearer


The heaps in the wooded area at the side were getting bigger.

Dieuwke with a load of melilot



Relaxing against a heap - Dieuwke, Lesley, Carolyn, Eleanor


It was time to pack up. We were pleased with the amount we had managed to clear. Here is some of the wildlife we saw:

A dragonfly




A common blue butterfly - it refused to open its wings



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