Once more on to the ramparts

By ‘C’:

“This is demanding work on a steep slope,” said the session leader beforehand. 

Actually, the gradient was not as extreme as the last time we had worked on this job – clearing the perimeter of Castle Hill, Wittenham – though it still posed its challenges.   

In any event, we are Green Gym: we won’t back down.

No, the main factor working against us today was the sheer beauty of the South-Oxfordshire landscape:

Small wonder that people are once more trying to calibrate the effectiveness of nature itself in promoting mental health – thought the focus there is on working in the great outdoors, not just being in it.

Volunteers enjoyed being in the great outdoors so much this morning that some of them kept getting distracted.  Before we had even started, one group of workers set off in one direction, while vehicle with site warden and all the kit went in the other:

Once they were on the right path, there was still some doubt (at least in my mind) as to whether all volunteers would ever arrive at today’s work-site.  People would keep stopping to admire the view, and point out which tracts of land had been acquired by Earth Trust, with a view to safeguarding the natural heritage for future generations:

When we did arrive (yes, all of us) at where we were meant to be clearing invasive scrub, nettles, and the like, there were yet more views to be had: from the top of the ramparts, or from the outer slopes.

Mind you, from where I personally was for most of the session, this was about the nearest one got to a view:

Colours of autumn

I was at the bottom of the slope, in the ditch.  

Yes, I was meant to be there.  No-one had been free-falling or even just sliding down the ramparts (though I think there was the odd ankle to benefit from one of those instant ice-pack dressings).  I was one of two Green-Gymmers experimenting with use of a scythe to clear nettles.

As nettles prefer conditions which are damp (but not water-logged), they were flourishing in the base of the ditch. 

Now a scythe-blade to nettles is like the proverbial knife to butter.  (When handled right: having been on a course, we know it’s not done like this.)   Where we were able to trace a good arc, progress was swift, even though one is only cutting 2" at a time:

People who know their scything will naturally have spotted that although that is an Austrian-pattern scythe, this worker is not using the second handle.  (And would probably have preferred an East-European model.)  Whatever the type of scythe, one limitation is that the scyther does need to stop about every ten minutes.  Not for a breather, but to sharpen the blade:

We had opted for ditch- rather than a grass-blades.  I for one was impressed that the size of blade we had chosen even managed perfectly well with infant blackthorn and mature thistles.  (I think we would have needed a bush-blade for any larger scrub?) 

The site warden was also pleased that a scythe cuts lower to the ground than a slasher.  The next working party to carry on with this task will have quite a bit of cut vegetation to remove!

At tea-break, there was some discussion of colour, but this time of man-made artefacts.  What colour would you say the latest batch of Green-Gym mugs is?

New mugs had been sourced to meet volunteers’ requests for larger-size tea/coffee.  Good for mental well-being it may be, but it is thirst-making work, Green-Gymming.

Re-hydrated, volunteers seemed particularly eager to get cracking again.  Or was it the continuing good weather which had put us all in the mood to do more?  The dryness was not so good for the scything, but gentle sunshine and breeze made for perfect conditions for everyone else.  It was not The Scythe Show for most of us this morning!

It does happen, however, that the ‘You can see where we’ve been’ shots are of a section which was tackled with scythe and dasselbasher:

Before

After

And literally looking back:

For once, the Green-Gym day was not limited to the morning.  This afternoon a band of Green-Gymmers (not quite the same line-up as this morning) was engaged on another, very personal task: a memorial garden-tidy, in honour of a former member.  "Very productive," I am told: "lopping trees, and a bonfire."