A few days ago, Green Gym went to help Charlotte on her water-meadow in Goring. It was looking wonderful and it is inspiring to see how much has been achieved over the past four years. While Green Gym isn’t the only group to work there, it is gratifying to know that we have helped establish this unique wildlife environment.
This time, there were a dozen of us so we split into 4 groups: one group managed the bonfire, gathering and burning the brash from recent tree coppicing; a couple of the men built a hand-rail over a footbridge; some people cleared the ancient drove road that leads down to the river and the four of us in my group dismantled and rebuilt the stockade fence along the footpath. We sawed uprights which were hammered into the ground with a foot between them, fore and aft, which created a channel into which we placed logs and loose material. It looked pretty good when we finished, confirmed by the appreciative comments we got from passersby walking the Thames Path. Although there was a light drizzle, we were warm enough to take off one layer of clothing. The coffee was welcome after our efforts and the cake was really delicious.
Lovely to walk back to the car knowing that we had had a work-out that was productive, helpful and appreciated.
Sheelagh and Chris, 5 March 2015