On the Green Edge

By ‘C’:

Another perspective for us on the village of Dorchester:

That’s the northern green edge to the Oxfordshire village – except that it is not looking especially green at the moment.  In the background of the pic: Wittenham Clumps, part of.  During the session itself, we could not see them: in the first half, that was because from the north side of the village there are few views of the gorgeous countryside to the south unless one has the advantage of a bit of elevation.  Where that shot was taken, the artificial height was in the form of a track leading to the little-used bridge which spans the (in)famous Dorchester by-pass.

It was the first time I had traveled to Green Gym on the bus.  Normally we are at locations not well served by public transport.  What you cannot see from the by-pass, not even while carried along as a passenger on the top deck of a bus, is Demesne Field (which is still worked as farmland) and the old lane alongside it, which now serves as a footpath.  Both field and pathway were looking rather more autumnal than one might expect in July:

One stretch of the path has been adopted by a trust.  The other stretch – well no-one knows who it belongs to.  Over the years, volunteers from the village have kept it clear of fallen branches.  Before our own volunteer team started work, it did not look too bad this year, because vegetation has been checked by the very dry summer.  Even so, one half of ‘our’ stretch featured vegetation encroaching from the sides:

The very first thing to be done was definitely one which fell to the Session Leader.  That was me today.  So, before the team assembled, I walk the length of ‘our’ stretch of path, kitted out with sturdy plastic gloves + large supply of biodegradable bags, and cleared up after irresponsible dog-owners.  Most of the mess was within a 3-metre radius of the facilities provided by thoughtful parish council!

Evidently there are some people who think of the path as ‘theirs’ in the sense that they and their animals are entitled to walk along it, but not in the sense that they accept their share of responsibility for keeping it in good order – and pleasant for everyone else:

That had been sprayed on the ground before I arrived.  (Is there a specific term for a ground, as opposed to the usual wall, graffito?)  My guess is that the artist does not so much wish to know the identity of the miscreants, as desire that they cease and desist.

After the dog-poo patrol had passed by, the rest of the team could follow on behind, and clear vegetation without having to be quite so concerned about where they put their feet.  Clearing space for path-users was swiftly done …

and then it was on to the next task.

Task 2 was on a picturesque lane on the south side of the village.  Walking along after the crew had car-pooled their way there, I was wondering to begin with what call there could be for Green Gym at this location:

Then I came to the stretch where there certainly was need for some care for nature, mostly of the removing of ‘bully species’ type:

Here too one could see there are residents who are very village-proud and not backward in coming forward to express their views:

Tea-break was by the allotments, from where there are clear views of the Clumps
– a good place to be consuming cake which had a tendency to crumble, and therefore needed squashing together into … clumps:

This was near where, on a previous visit, we had come across archaeological investigations in full swing.  The dig-site is presently returned to its former state:

Some ingenious allotment-technology also caught Green-Gymmers’ eyes.  This delightful home-made bird-scarer dances in the breeze:

After tea-break the verge-crew finished off their work.  Then the ‘Ivy League’ teams got stuck into some serious tree-care activity – which they seemed to enjoy a lot.  Here it was a question of freeing living tree from the grip of dead tree and a great weight of ivy:

“I think we may have saved a tree there.”

Fortunately, the weather was kind to us today.  It had been quite beastly during the week.  I mean, people may have differing views on whether hot & sunny = good, but just when clear skies would have been really good … ha!

One had spent some time preparing.  It was going be full moon last Friday.  Moon close to horizon, therefore seeming larger.  And a lunar eclipse: from 20:49 to 22:13 in London, so around 8.52 to 10.16 pm in our neighbourhood.  In some parts of the world, likely an enhanced ‘blood-moon’ due to effect of smoke from wildfires.  Plus, at the same time, the red planet appearing larger and brighter than in the last 15 years, because Mars is approaching its closest point to Earth (‘perihelic opposition’, apparently).  One had worked out a couple of days in advance the best places for viewing and photographing without going too far from home:

Then come the big day – or rather the dark night – the heavens were like this:

Worst of both worlds!  Sufficient cloud cover to disappoint sky-gazers, but not enough to let fall even a few drops of much needed rain.  If given the choice, I would gladly have foregone astronomical wonders in favour of a land-reviving downpour.

For the latter we had to wait until Sunday morning, when it rained (almost) cats and dogs.  And still the dry weary land could use more!