Fire and Cold Water

By the Session Leader:

The bonfire was burning bright as we arrived, and so was the sun.  

February, they say, is “the border between winter and spring”.  It was definitely winter at first light today.  Spring from around 9 o’clock – very convenient for those wending their way to Green Gym.  Winter again in the afternoon.

We had a great choice of tasks today, on a return visit to Millbrook Mead.  Some of us set about disposing of brash, which had been cut in previous sessions, by chopping it up into bite-size portions and feeding it to the fire:

If fire did not appeal, there was water to work with/in instead.  There were two ponds to clear of well-established reeds.  The first thing to do there was to find each pond.  This was one:

“Did someone say something about there being a pond here?”

Then there was the matter of clearing each one, while loftily ignoring remarks from passing colleagues about “more water-raking”:

Reach and pull – with special ‘water-raking’ rake …

then toss ‘product’ on to bankside pile

That’s one pond done

And now the other pond is revealed too

The village brook accumulates rubbish and litter, but after several bags full collected by Green-Gymmers, it is now pristine.  [Who knew that humble litter-picking could be such an interesting sport to watch for those pond-clearers now leaning on our forks? - Ed.]

Litter-picking GG style

– note snowdrops in the foreground

The brook also gets overgrown.  So those with wellies (sadly, mine sprung a leak) tackled the brambles, ivy, and other assorted overgrowth to reveal the brook flowing full tilt towards the river Thames:

Spot the Gymmer

Other side streams and gullies needed clearing too, without disturbing the frog and his/her frogspawn, and the nascent Loddon Lilies. 

“Mind my Lilies!” cried the warden when some of us were bordering on the too-enthusiastic.

The snowdrops have already been mentioned – they were gorgeous:

There was also some fascinating fungus to be seen …

before it was time to count back tools, count up volunteers, and head home before the weather turned, and some decidedly cold rain started to fall.