Boundary House Fen - Saturday 1st November 2025

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 Blog by Eleanor, photos by Julio and Sally

We met, as usual in the Greenkeepers' compound of Frilford Golf Course. It was a fairly mild day of sunny intervals with no rain forecast. Adrian, our leader for the day had driven the tools along the road next to the gap in the hedge opening on to the fen, so we didn't have anything to carry as we made our way there. Rod d'Ayala was there to direct operations, and briefed us on the tasks needed to advance his cunning plan for rewetting and maintaining the fen

Pre task briefing




There were two main tasks. The scythers, consisting of Sally, Roger, Jim, David and Adrian were to go to the higher edge of the fen by the neighbouring house and scythe bramble and bracken.

View of the far side



The rest of us went to the far lower corner of the fen to rake up the cut vegetation and deposit it in the leat in order to make the water spread out across the fen.

Area to be raked







Eleanor raking

This area bordered on the golf course.

An invasive species? - no, badly aimed golf balls


After the raking

Meanwhile, the scythers tackled the bramble and bracken.

David among the bracken



Roger scything

The rakers finished clearing and it was time for our teabreak, with delicious biscuits as usual.

Teabreak




By this time Judy Webb had arrived and was going round surveying fungi. For us, it was time to get back to work, but with a different task for the rakers, that was to go up to where the scythers had been working and help to build a dead hedge along the boundary fence, using the cut material.


Making the dead hedge



The sun had come out again, as you see from the photo, and we spotted a beautiful red admiral butterfly sunning itself on the telegraph pole.

Red Admiral








The dead hedge completed, we make our way back




After photo

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