Blog by Sally. Photos by Julio and Sally
We returned to Kennington Memorial Field on a bright crisp morning on Saturday, 20 December to continue with scrub clearance of this species-rich grassland site. Our leader for this session was Kevin, who had been briefed by Hannah Brockwell of Oxford Preservation Trust, who own and manage the land with the help of a few cattle which graze the field between spring and summer each year. We numbered 15 - a fantastic turnout for the Saturday before Christmas.
After we parked in the car park at the end of Playfield Road, Kevin briefed the group (although we hadn't all gathered at this point!):
The Memorial Field is dedicated to the six men of Kennington village who lost their lives in the Second World War. It is now a Local Wildlife Site.
The notice board in the Memorial Field
We collected the tools and the all-important Green Gym biscuits and made our way to set up base camp near to where most of our work would be undertaken. We were tasked with clearing a large area of bramble to prevent it from encroaching onto the field and to removing other scrub, as well as to trim the vegetation from the tops of anthills.
Adrian starts scything the bramble patch
Adrian continues scything the bramble thicket, whilst others rake up leaves around the patch - we soon warmed up whilst scything
Good progress being made with two scythers in operation
Simon raking cut bramble
The cut material was raked and pitchforked to form a dead hedge along the boundary, which will provide valuable shelter for invertebrates during the winter.
Carol, Lesley and Joan collect up the cut material
Rake, rattle and roll - Julio and Kevin in action
Working on the lower slope, Adrian scythes the breadth of the bramble patch, as Julio and Kevin rake it into a long sausage shape
The cut material is raked up against the OPT fence to form a dead hedge
The dead hedge, which we hope will provide valuable habitat over winter for a range of invertebrates
A robin voices approval of our efforts
The cleared patch. Hopefully, the raking we did will have disturbed the seed bank, and letting the light in will allow any seeds to germinate, improving biodiversity in the field.
Once the patch had been cleared, we enjoyed a convivial tea break in the sunshine. We heard and saw a green woodpecker. The main part of the work now completed, Kevin explained that there was some more tree popping to be done, as well as lopping back more scrub and also cutting vegetation from the tops of anthills, which we started after break.
Adrian clearing scrub using the tree popper, which pulls out small trees including their roots, thus preventing regrowth
Green gymmers on the attack!
Progress made after our efforts.
It was soon time for us to pack up our tools. Anthills had been trimmed, scrub lopped and popped, the bramble patch scythed and cleared and a dead hedge created. Not bad for a morning's work! We left the site wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and we look forward to returning to this site in 2026 to continue the good work. We hope the ants, butterflies and plants will appreciate our efforts!
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