Today we cut and burned scrub in a field beside a hollow way at Aston Rowant Nature Reserve. An aerial photograph taken in the 1960s shows it was previously almost bare of trees and bushes, the best conditions for chalk grassland wild flowers including gentians and orchids. The task had been started earlier in the week by other volunteers, so there were cut heaps to burn on the existing fire site while we felled new areas of mainly hawthorn scrub.
Julia 21/3/2013