The Feel-Green Factor

It is not often that Green Gym divides into two distinct groups before a session has even begun, and the blog is posted before session end.  [Ed: except that, unknown to C, an extra portion of blog would be on its way.]

On a blusterous day, when the only weather-related question was when – not whether – it would rain, most Green-Gymmers were at the RV point bright and early, eager to be getting on with the task.  “Coppicing,” we had been told.  In the meantime, we admired the work which had been done on the perimeter of the car-park:

It being a day on which we really needed to get working as soon as possible, the early birds went on ahead, to get started.  I waited to collect those who were not quite ready
+ those still arriving at 10:00. 

Along the way with this second group, we appeared to lose one of our number.  This was not as alarming as one might suppose.  From the way our colleague deliberately peeled off, it looked like he had simply changed his mind about doing the Green-Gym session and preferred to go off for a walk across the open hills.  Which was fine: each to his own, it’s a free country, and all that. 

When, eventually, we arrived at the work-site – bearing the tea-crate load – we found our colleague was already there.  He had just taken a short cut!

Ironically, if our colleague had done the friendly thing and told us about the short cut, we would have missed out on a wonderful misheard.  For at one point we had come to a place where the main track divided, and a turning to the left might have matched the instructions we had been given.  After a fruitless recce in that direction, we waited to ask a group of fitness-walkers, who were powering along a trail, if they had seen any people working along the way?  “No!” came the cheerful reply: “we haven’t seen anyone lurking.”

When we did catch up with those who were working, one enthusiastic volunteer told us, “It’s not really coppicing we’re doing today: it’s felling small trees.”  This may well have been great fun.  Alas, almost as soon as I had arrived and delivered my group, it was time for me personally to go – leaving them feeling so green in the eco-sense, and me feeling so green in the sense of envy.

Blog continues, courtesy of the session leader:

Some of us had worked in the pond area down on the other side of the Wittenham Clumps in previous years, coppicing hazel, and had expected the same today.  So it was a big surprise to find that this time it was tall sycamores and some ash to be thinned.  It would be more bow saws and fewer loppers.  Today’s official photographer and blogger failed to bring his camera, hence no photos to compare the two areas.  [Ed: thanks to another volunteer and his mobile phone, there are some extra images to view.]

They were small trees in the sense of small diameter, from 2 to 8 inches, but not small in height.  As they were close together the biggest problem – and safety issue – was that they did not want to fall cleanly, but held on to each other for help at the topmost branches.   It was essential for the Green-Gymmmers to keep well apart, and be keenly aware of what each other was cutting down.

Not like this:

Stand back like this:

The site warden gave safety lessons on direction of cuts, direction that trees would take when falling, how to move half-fallen trees without crippling yourself – and where not to stand!

Stand well clear when a tree is about to fall:

The initial enthusiasm to fell the trees moderated when the more mundane tasks had to be done:

cutting them up …

then stacking the logs, and dragging the brash into piles:

Some excellent home-made cake by our chief baker gave us the energy to cope when the promised rain arrived, although it was more of a drizzle than the downpours that the Met office had threatened.

Fortunately the area we were in was very sheltered, so it was only when we returned to the car park via the hill top that we felt the force of the wind and rain and realised that we were actually rather damp. 

But we certainly expended a lot of energy.