Cothill Fen National Nature Reserve - Saturday, 3rd October 2026
Blog by Sally. Photos by Margaret, Michele and Sally
On a fine, but cloudy autumnal morning, thirteen Green Gymmers met Steph from Natural England in Cothill School car park. We donned wellington boots and transferred the tools from Adrian's car to Steph's trailer and we made our way along String Lane to Cothill Fen NNR. This is a calcareous or alkaline fen, where the spring-fed water percolates through a layer of chalk, thereby reducing the acidity. These are extremely rare habitats and we are blessed to have a number in Oxfordshire.
The Natural England monthly volunteer party had worked on the Fen the previous day, so Adrian, our leader for the session, explained that there was some raking for us to do and some scything of reed to finish off. We were also tasked with digging up holly seedlings from the wood, as if they were allowed to grow, they would block out light from the understorey, which would mean fewer bluebells. Another task was to remove alder from along the board walk and to scythe along it. The cut material was used to build up the bunds. The bunds have a twofold purpose - they act as filters absorbing pollutants from run-off from nearby fields and provide walkways across the pond, which is very deep.
Roger and David made their way to the wood where Adrian showed them where the holly seedlings were to be dug up, while Jim continued with scything the tall reed as Simon raked up the cut material from the previous day. The rest of the group made their way to the board walk to cut down alder and scythe the regrowth of vegetation from under the oak trees.
Once the alder saplings had been cut down, Jim and Adrian were able to scythe this side of the board walk as Barbara and Sally scythed the other side. The cut material then had to be raked up and transported to the bunds. Carol made her way to the other side of the fence on the Fen-side of the boardwalk and there were some entertaining moments as piles of cut material were lobbed across to her when they missed their mark and then she had to retrieve it all. A number of passers-by thanked us for our efforts.
As the morning wore on, the temperature rose and we were grateful when breaktime was called for much-needed refreshments and the chance of a catch up. There was a smattering of a shower just as we returned to work, but it fizzled out very quickly and we were able to continue in the dry. By the time it was time for us to go, the strip of vegetation had been cleared from along the board walk, almost from one end to the other.
We gathered up the tools and packed them into the trailer ready to unload them and transfer them to Adrian's car. Steph was pleased at the progress we had made.
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