Another peaceful day in England’s deadliest county

Dawn was rather pretty this morning – which was not entirely reassuring.

As is well known: red sky at morning, shepherd’s warning.  This, however, was more of an orange sky.  Besides, we weren’t doing anything for sheep today: our task was tending watercress.

It was a pity we had not been able to take any samples of the plant to the weekend’s Benson Community Health Fair, where we had shared a stall with the Ewelme Watercress Beds group.  For watercress has been reputed since ancient times to have medicinal properties.

In some places, such as Alresford (Hampshire), watercress gets a whole festival to itself.  We, however, just cut the stuff back, and remove unwanted species from its habitat.  So that water channels run clear and free.

I say ‘we’.  Actually, a good deal of my morning could be summed up visually thus:

A tranquil spot in which to lie in the warm sun

For while everyone else who had made it in time for a 10 am start, walked down to the far end of the site and started work, someone had to wait by the RV point for those who had been delayed.  A number of people had experienced difficulty getting through Benson on account of filming – and seen some fairly strange sights:

What aliens have to do with a Midsomer-Murders plot, I cannot imagine.  However, we were assured by someone working on the set that today’s schedule was for the TV series Midsomer Murders, and the characters in silver suits and pink wigs were indeed ‘aliens’.

When all workers plus the all-important tea-crate had safely arrived, I was able to walk along myself to join the Green-Gym fun.  It was at first difficult to make out what was going on, except that there appeared to be no murders and no aliens:

Any technology visible in the background was in connection with the nearby airfield:

Even knowing what today’s task was, I still had difficulty in making out what, precisely, some Green-Gymmers were doing.  This, for instance:

From the bank, all I could really tell was that it was quite hard work.

Closer up, I realised that while volunteers upstream were cutting back watercress to create a channel, others were floating bundles of watercress downstream, then loading it into wheelbarrows to be taken to the compost heap.  Hard work for sure, but people seemed to be enjoying it:

And on such a beautiful day, workers took full advantage of the tea break.  Here, relaxing by the pond which we had dug out on a previous occasion:

Any aliens who come in peace are most welcome to join us at Green Gym: we do not discriminate.