Swathes of Loddon lilies were in full flower here by the Thames, out of sight of our 14-strong crew who were concentrated mainly in the old orchard area. One group installed a section of post-and-rail fence alongside the Ridgeway path, others cleared the ground for a further section of fencing, and a third group raked up bramble debris by the railway line barrowing the clippings to the bonfire. Meanwhile Gill single-handedly wove hazel and willow whips to form a natural screen by the side of a boundary fence.
Two real blasts from the past during the morning: a steam train thundered by towards Reading pulling 5 coaches in full GWR livery; and who should come walking along the Ridgeway but Veronica with her dog? Veronica ran the Oxford Brookes University monitoring project on the efficacy of Green Gyms during our first months in 1998, finding that activities such as fence-building uses as much energy as step-aerobics. Here we were still building fences, so the Green Gym must be doing us good! And yes, the dog is the same one she brought along 16 years ago – he is now 21.
Julia, 17/4/2014
