On the 12th day …

Wallingford Green Gym holding a session actually in Wallingford?   

That is quite unusual, but not unprecedented.  Moreover, of the sessions which have been held in the town after which we are named, a good many have been in St Leonards’ Churchyard Nature Reserve; and, of those, a good proportion on the Tuesday nearest to Twelfth Night.  The scheduling has always been entirely co-incidental.  Nevertheless, it seems a good time of year to be working out in an ecclesiastical setting. 

Today’s session was on the Feast of the Epiphany itself.  On the twelfth day of Christmas – so the song goes – my true love sent to me:
12 Drummers Drumming

11 Pipers Piping

10 Lords a Leaping

9 Ladies Dancing

8 Maids a Milking

7 Swans a Swimming

6 Geese a Laying (now there’s a task we’ve never done – wonder if Green Gyms in coastal areas do)

5 Gold Rings

4 Calling Birds

3 French Hens

2 Turtle Doves (some achievement since turtle doves over-winter in Africa)

1 Partridge in a Pear Tree

Our own treat to ourselves was a tad more conventional.  Festive cake rather than roast partridge with pear sauce:

Before tucking in to the delights of tea-break, there was the small matter of some work to be done.  There was a displaced seasonal task to attend to: namely the tidying we couldn’t do here in the autumn, when it was blowing a gale, and the session had to be cancelled/postponed:

Note the replica public-house sign – new since our previous visit.

For a moment, worried session leader wondered if one volunteer were trying to push another worker on to the interesting iron spikes, which had been omitted from the risk assessment:

On the other hand, sometimes it appeared that workers did not need assistance from colleagues to have a go at falling on spikes.  They didn’t succeed anyway:

In place of autumnal gales, this morning the weather couldn’t make up its mind whether it was winter or spring.  A pity, because on the way over it had looked like it was shaping up to be a fine morning. 

View towards St Leonard’s from Wallingford Bridge

It is difficult in the photograph to make out the weather vane on the top of the tower of
St Leonard’s because it was gleaming golden in the sunshine.

On site, we could hear, but it was a while before we could see where the robin was, which was singing so mightily:

Plant life reflected the relatively mild temperature:

First snowdrops of the season

The first of the blossom

Unfortunately, we had wait another couple of hours before another interval of sunshine.  

In the meantime, a spell of cold rain reminded us that it is still January.

Evidence of the difference made by the morning’s work –

bags now filled with waste, awaiting disposal …

and Georgian-period carvings uncovered by removal of overgrowing ivy:

Best wishes for 2015 to all our friends!

Snap!

First session of Xmas 2014/15 and the task was about the same as the last session before Christmas. 

‘Hedge planting’ is essentially just like tree planting, except the plants go in closer together and lined up in strict rows.  The other differences between before and after the start of Christmas: another range of species; slightly different planting methods; and a shift in the weather. 

Oxfordshire had been treated to what one of our members calls “a silver Christmas” (as opposed to a white Xmas, whether cartoon form or heavy metal): a sufficiently deep coating of frost to make everything out of doors look sparkly in the sunshine, but not enough of the white stuff to cause inconvenience.  Dendritic ice crystals on a window this morning, where it had been left open for fresh air in a bedroom overnight, seemed appropriate given today’s task:

The cold snap did have some volunteers wondering if the ground would be too hard for tree planting.  “Dunnowz I know” – as they say in Wisconsin – was the only response I could give.  (All folks associated with that part of the world are feeling particularly laid- back at the moment.  For anyone connected with Wisconsin naturally supports the ‘Pack’, and the Packers have just won their fourth straight divisional title.)

However, none of the volunteers need have worried.  All had been prepared ahead of our visit by trust-staff, who had thought on ahead, protected the ground with compost and covers, and sorted out bundles of whips of 15 different species (64% hawthorn, 10% field maple, the remainder assorted other specimens, incl the odd rose).

As the morning progressed, some volunteers developed individual styles of working.   

One pair, from another community-group, worked in a tiny area, where there would have been no room for our merry band.  Among the Green-Gymmers, some went for “the production line method”:

Others continued to dig one hole at a time (“hand-crafted”).  Some of the craftsmen had extra assistance:

(Well done, our young apprentices!)

The third system of work was to dig trenches:

Fortified by treats brought over from Germany (marzipan, chocolate-coated almonds, and Lebkuchen), the all-age work-party managed to complete all three lengths of hedge with immaculate scheduling for our normal going-home/decanting-to-the-pub time.  Here the finishing touches are being put to the two sections which were allocated to Wallingford Green Gym + visitors:

Happy New Year to all – Prosit Neujahr!

A Dull Day

A Tuesday without Green Gym is by definition at least a bit dull.

Actually, the weather, which had been a bit damp and not very interesting to be out in, intermittently brightened up this morning.  However, there was no Green-Gym session for the sun to shine on.  Site wardens had been reluctant to schedule a session for this week: they seemed to think that volunteers would have other things to do.  Apparently there is something important happening the night of 24/25 December. 

However, I have not been able to keep away from things Green-Gym altogether.  On a stroll round nearby Riverside Meadow, I made a point of revisiting some of the spots where we have worked in 2014 and in years past. 

This corner in particular brought back a few memories:

Foreground: ditch restored by WGG in 2008 and maintained annually since

Background: spire of St Peter’s Church, Wallingford

Old hands still recall the local official who became madder than a wet hen because the team had carried out work precisely according to written spec, and the results were exactly as we (but not he) had anticipated.  It all got sorted in the end.

There are also stretches of river bank, where (to all-round satisfaction) we have been engaged in willow spiling.  This was a spot where deep wash from passing motor-boats had been causing erosion:

Foreground: fenced area where bank has been repaired
Background: River Thames; Wallingford Bridge

Here the problem had been cattle trampling the ground when they habitually visited the same spot to drink from the river:

Nearside: Green Gym was here!

Far side of the river: Wallingford Rowing Club; tower of St Leonard’s Church, where we help out in the churchyard

One reason why willow spiling is effective for safeguarding river banks is that willow rods stuck in the earth will – in the right conditions – re-grow:

Normal service will be resumed at Green Gym next week!  In the meantime, I trust volunteers are taking a well-deserved rest …