Two Pines Fen, Frilford Heath Golf Course - Tuesday, 10 February 2026

Blog by Sally. Photos by Margaret and Sally

On a rather dull February day, we returned to Frilford Heath Golf Course to continue with the cut and rake of Two Pines Fen, which is a calcareous (or alkaline) fen - a very rare habitat - home to several species of orchid and other plants which prefer slightly less acidic conditions than in a 'normal' fen, including the Grass of Parnassus - this being the southernmost place in the country where it grows. Because it is bounded by the Green and Red Courses, we can only safely work here when either is closed for maintenance or when the Golf Club can reasonably close one of the holes. On Tuesday, it was the turn for the 4th hole on the Green Course side of the Fen to be closed.

There were nine volunteers - 7 from Green Gym, plus Dr Judy Webb, consultant ecologist, and Rich from the Lye Valley volunteers. After parking in the Green Keepers' compound, we made our way to the Fen with the tools and, of course, the Green Gym biscuits for break time! Judy was keen for us to cut the tall reed in front of the Fen as this is an area where common cotton grass flourishes and it comes up early, requiring light. Margaret set about scything this area, whilst Jim, Rich, Susan, Barbara and Sally scythed the rush and reed on the other side of the stream. As the scythers got going, Eleanor and Simon raked the patch nearest the boundary wall, which had been strimmed by the Golf Course, before joining Judy in raking up. Even the sun made a joyful appearance for us!

As we scythed and raked, we gathered an enormous number of golf balls, which we put/threw to the fairway bounding the fen for golfers passing by to collect. It is always fun if they recognise one of their own! A number of golfers stopped to thank us or find out more about what we were doing. One gentleman stopped to thank us for finding his glasses last month, which had been successfully repaired, and he collected a number of balls for the juniors to use!

Simon was happy to dig out willow scrub, which if left unchecked would soon take over the Fen and dry it out. It's important to dig out the roots to stop it from re-growing.

Six of the volunteers were able to stay after lunch and with the priority being to cut the reed in the cotton grass patch, Jim and Rich joined Margaret and later, hoping that we had cut enough vegetation for the early marsh orchids to emerge, Barbara then joined them. It was then all hands to the deck to rake up the cut vegetation, either putting it in the stream taking care to leave a sufficient gap around the bridges or in heaps around the fen for the Green Keepers to collect and take away. It is important not to leave the cut vegetation on the fen as, over time, nutrients build up and the specialist flora prefer less nutrient-rich soil. Just as we were finishing and packing up, the rain started. We counted our blessings as, for two midweek sessions on the trot, we had not experienced the usual howling gales, torrential rain or remnants of hurricanes, which we normally have to endure. We hope that the cotton grass, Grass of Parnassus, orchids and other fen specialists will appreciate our efforts and give a good display for the golfers! We do, however, need to do some more work on the Red Course side of the fen and hope to fix another date in March for that. Thanks to all the volunteers who joined us on the day and especially to Margaret and Sally, who had both taken a day's annual leave from work.