Wednesday 4th November 2026 - Clatterford Recreation Ground, Carisbrooke GG #1104

Terry's photos

The initial chat....

Here come the trees!

We returned this week to Clatterford Recreation Ground, last visited in March, to continue helping Newport & Carisbrooke Town Council with their efforts to change this site from a football ground to a community space.  With that aim in mind, our task this week was to plant fruit trees along the western boundary.  The trees had been sourced from Deacons Nursery and were the following mix:

Cherry ‘Stella’

Pear ‘Concorde’

Apples ‘ Old Pearmain’, ‘Rubinette’, ‘Bembridge Beauty’, ‘Red Devil’, ‘Belle de Boskoop’, ‘Red Sleeves’ and ‘Cox’

Holes (as you might expect!) were dug, tree and shrub compost added along with the top soil mixed with bone meal, the trees planted and staked and then topped off with woodchip.  Finally, tree ties and rabbit guards were put in place. 

Over the winter months native trees will be planted along the eastern boundary in a rough scalloped design with wild flowers sown within the scallops.  Towards the end of the session, in an attempt to reduce nutrition returning to the soil, some of the GG-ers set to with rakes to remove grass cuttings left from mowing. 

Thanks to Terry for the photos and to Newport & Carisbrooke Town Council for inviting the Really Awesome Coffee van to visit and provide us all with hot drinks and snacks.  Thanks must also go to Colin for patiently standing on Clatterford Road in his hi-vis to direct us down the lane to the Recreation Ground on arrival - many of us would have driven straight past!

Wednesday 28th October 2026 - Little Lynn Common, nr Briddlesford GG #1103

 Terry's photos

Listening to instructions....

The remote controlled brush cutter in operation

The remains of Greater Broomrape (Orobanche Rapum-genistae)

Spectacular Rustgill (Gymnopilus junonius) 

above and below

Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum)

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)

Mark's photos

The creation of the hibernaculum

Phil's photo

Another new venue this week – we are being spoilt!  We were working with Gift to Nature who have taken over the management of this site at the request of the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) who own this woodland (along with others nearby).  Little Lynn Common is the wooded area at the junction of Combley Road and Briddlesford Road and from the outside appears to be solid woodland.  However, once off the road and into the site there are wide grassy rides with mature Scots and Corsican Pine trees mixed with silver birch, gorse, bracken and, of course, brambles.  There are no public rights of way but there are permissive footpaths.

https://www.gifttonature.org.uk/discover/out-in-the-country/little-lynn-common/

The management plan is to encourage heathland plants.  Overgrown gorse was cut back to encourage it to regenerate, and a small copse of silver birch was cut down to open up the area and let light onto the ground.  Cut material was piled onto a hibernaculum and the lighter brash was burnt.  The G2N Rangers had their remote-controlled grass/brush cutter with them, and this was used to clear bracken and bramble.  The resulting mowings were then piled on top of the wood in the hibernaculum. 

Little Lynn Common is home to red squirrels and great spotted woodpeckers (heard but not seen today).  Greater broom rape, a native parasitic plant, also grows here.  It needs gorse (or broom) to parasitise and is an interesting, rare plant without any chlorophyll – see link. 

https://plantiary.com/plant/orobanche-rapum-genistae_11939.html

Autumn, of course, is the perfect time to find fungi.  We found a variety of fungi including Fly Agaric and Spectacular Rustgill – see links.

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/fungi-and-lichens/fly-agaric/

https://www.wildfooduk.com/mushroom-guide/spectacular-rustgill/

Thank you to Terry, Phil and Mark for the photos.

Wednesday 21st October 2026 - Swanpond Copse, Ashey GG #1102

 Alison's photos

Getting started....

Opening up the undergrowth

This is how a coppiced stool should look

Mark's photos

It was not the most auspicious start to the day – torrential rain that looked as though it would never stop.  However, in true GG tradition, we battled our way to this weeks’ site – Swanpond Copse in Ashey (a new venue for us) which is managed by the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust (HIWWT). 

The copse was planted approximately 20 years ago as part of the ‘jigsaw’ planting plan whose aim was to connect remaining isolated ancient woodlands.  A variety of trees were planted in a random fashion, staked and protected with tree guards, and then neglected for the next two decades.   Consequently, the woodland is dense with bramble, there is little light penetrating to the ground and trees that benefit from coppicing are overgrown.

Our task today was to start the coppicing of hazel trees within the woodland.  Two areas were chosen.  We had to clear the brambles so that we could gain access to the trees and then cut them down to a stool.  Ideally, a coppiced stool should be in a low mound shape.  Due to the overgrowth of the wood in many cases, we had to leave tree stumps a metre or so high.  These will be cut down by the HIWWT Rangers at a later stage.

Coppicing is an ancient woodland management tool with many benefits to the environment and wildlife – see link for further information -

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/managing-trees-and-woods/types-of-woodland-management/ 

The cut material was laid in dry hedge formation creating a habitat for wildlife at the back of the coppiced areas.  Fortunately, shortly after we started work the rain eased off.  We hope to return to this lovely woodland shortly.

Thank you to Mark for the additional photos.