Author Archives: wimklaucke

Today we cleared a large area of invasive holly on the western side of Spring Wood, and managed to burn most of it despite wet conditions making for a slow start to the bonfire. The fire area was taped off … Continue reading →

Major scrub bashing with 2 bonfires for our January session at Aston Rowant. Everything was shrouded in fog when we arrived, but the sun came out mid-morning so we were able to admire the fabulous views during pauses from lopping … Continue reading →

The temperature was 2° but the ground was not too hard for our hedge-planting session at Mapledurham Village Hall on 16th January. Ten of us planted 100 whips of mixed native hedgerow species in 2 rows by midday. Julia 18/1/2016

A cold but dry morning was spent on Nettlebed Commons with several different tasks. Some of us starting by raking up and removing the brush cuttings at the bottom end of the heather patch at Priest Hill. It was a … Continue reading →

A seizable group turned out for a first weekend in 2016 on Ewelme. We stuck to our ‘normal’ task of cleaning up the watercress beds, pulling cress and moving it to the banks. Additionally we removed a few heavy plants … Continue reading →

At the turn of the year two sessions of pruning and hedge-laying in the churchyard in Dunsden created a lot of brash which we burned safely in the fire trailer Julia, 8/1/2016

In two consecutive visits to Parson’s Wood this month we concentrated on burning the holly brash from previous felling sessions. 3 bonfires on the second visit made great inroads into the brash piles. Julia, 19/11/2015

Several willows had been pollarded before our October session at Cleeve Water Meadow, leaving branches in heaps for us to process. We removed the thin material, piling up the heavier branches ready for log burning and the narrower straight poles … Continue reading →

Gratifying to see how open the meadows are now, especially as the reeds can be cut down by a mower in the autumn unimpeded by masses of felled trees. The remaining branches so painstakingly collected into discrete heaps by the … Continue reading →

Fantastic weather and fantastic views on Watlington Hill where our group of 17 volunteers fed 2 bonfires with the brash from felled birches and sycamores. These had been cut down to maintain open downland habitat for the rich variety of … Continue reading →