In the sunny uplands

By the session leader:

We left our homes shrouded in mist, so what was the day going to be like on the top of the Chilterns scarp?  Would the sun be out when we got there?

Answer was YES:

Looking out over the valley, we could see the ominous bank of mist that we had left behind:

Getting to the work-site itself, however, was not going to be easy.  Our target was the ‘goat enclosure’, where we were to tackle banks of brambles.  (The goats, who were previous residents of the enclosure, gave up on the job some years ago, leaving it to madcap humans, such as Green-Gymmers, to carry on.)  The slope may have been fine for goats, but it was too steep, wet, and slippery for us to get down by the most direct route.  The brambles which had been cut back in previous years – and have since embarked on a determined regrowth project – also made for an interesting trip hazard.  So, slowly and carefully, we had to take the long way round:

It was only when we had arrived that we appreciated the scale of the task ahead.  In front of us lay a formidable bank of brambles still to be cut – some of them defended by hawthorn and wild-rose.  We spread out, some to the right …

one in the middle …

and others on the left:

Those were the Green-Gymmers who could still be seen.  Others rather disappeared from view, as they followed the instruction to cut “channels” through the bramble-banks, to open up the way for those who will follow on after with brush-cutters:

After tea-break, a short sharp shock of a bonfire rapidly disposed of the brash …

while other volunteers battled on against the bramble fortresses:

By the end of the morning, the view into the distance looked much clearer:

Behind, the sun through the trees and smoke created a quite magical effect:

To round off – because I can’t think of any way of introducing the subject, but it’s a cute photo – here is a picture of my friend Mickey, whose agility rivals that of squirrels in running across a clothes line and stealing food from the bird feeder: