Ah, now this is what an English May Day
morning should look like:
Mist over the meadows gently uncurling at the
first caress of dawn, the trees dressed in fresh green, the pearly-blue sky
above promising a perfect early-summer’s day … All as it should be, except that
today’s date is 30 April.
It did indeed turn out a very fine
morning. And that was exactly as it
should be, because today is by far the most important day of the week. It’s Tuesday.
So this morning was: Wallingford Green Gym.
Now a fair number of us WGGers had been under the impression
that today we were going to be in Paradise (Wood). Having convened at a central car-park, we left
most of our transport there, and all piled into three vehicles to head off for
one of the smaller satellite car-parks on site. Car-parking spaces there at a premium because the spot is much used by
dog-walkers.
The road certainly took us in the direction
of Paradise Wood, the fields either side caparisoned in gold. Rapeseed plants one side:
Opposite, a field which once was arable, now sown
with mixed wildflower seed, where the cowslips have really taken:
It soon turned out that our destination this
morning was not Paradise Wood after all, but the family area beside neighbouring
Neptune Wood:
The reaction on the part of volunteers was not so much one of disappointment
as a tremor of anxiety. For the area is
home to a number of willow sculptures. Like
this one, which we think is meant to represent a telescope:
Now we have nothing against willow sculptures
as such, nor against sculptures commemorating HMS Neptune. We know the whole site was planted to mark the
anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar – with the number of trees needed to
have built and fitted out the ship – a great many oaks, of course, but also ash
for tools, elder for waterproof casks for gunpowder, &c. What we do have an ‘issue’ with is the pruning
and weaving to keep willow sculptures in shape.
And the site warden had promised that we wouldn’t be doing that …
We need not have expended a moment’s
worry. Our site warden was as good as
his word. Fixtures like these were our
target today:
Our mission: a destructive one. [Though
not when compared with the purpose of HMS Neptune. – Ed.] For the task was to remove the exclosures,
which are now redundant. The trees are
now well established, so the wood and wire-netting barriers were to be taken
down; and the tree-guards relieved of their duties.
So it was going to be destination happiness after
all. We love destructive tasks! And the weather was warming up too. A fleece had been much needed if out seeking the dawn-light. But now ...
The first step towards dismantling tree-hokkies was to remove the staples which
were securing wire to posts:
Some of the staples came out easily. Others had been hammered in too far, so they lay
flush with the timber. Others had
been placed very far down, where in the intervening years they had been overwhelmed
by overgrowing grass and accumulating soil.
And the really obstinate specimens were both underground and hammered in
fast. But all had to yield in the end to
the unremitting hammer-blows wielded by true-hearted Green-Gymmers.
Timber rails and posts were then removed. Again, some came quietly. Those were the rotten ones. Others stood their ground. Those were the ones where the wood was still
sound. But in the end, all were carried
off the field …
and into the hands of the ‘denailing’ teams,
who removed any remaining metalwork from the wood:
The wire netting was also carefully collected
up for re-use. Rolling it up required special
measures to stop it springing open again while it was being secured. Just occasionally, this whole process looked
like some ancient English May-Day ritual – a sacred dance, perhaps, with ritual
enthronement of a May Queen?
As we reached the last tree-pen, it was most
satisfying to be able to look back and see the place already “looking less like
a park, and more natural”. – Although you can tell in the ‘after’ picture below
that one little job still needed doing when the photograph was taken. Soil had still to be back-filled in the holes
where fence-posts had been. In the
meantime, the site warden’s dog appeared to be checking out that these were not
rabbit holes:
 |
| Before |
 |
| After |
Fewer hands were needed now on the task of tree
liberation. One Green-Gymmer took the
initiative to be Wardrobe Mistress, retrieve all the warm tops which had been
discarded, and use the side of the trailer as an impromptu coat-rack:
Even so, gradually the number of spectators
increased, as the mopping-up operation came to a close:
By session end, the job had been well and
truly done. There was a good trailerful
of materials to show for it – and a field full of contented Green-Gymmers ready
to head off home or to the pub:
And the weather forecast for the real 1 May, tomorrow? “Cloudy.” Also cooler than of late.
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