Wed 19th Sept 2007 - Kitbridge Farm.

This week the Green Gym was back at Kitbridge Farm and needless to say, the task involved weeds and water.....! The stream to the south of the farm has, over years of neglect, become VERY overgrown - not wildlife friendly at all. This week we continued to clear an area of the stream, chopping back the weeds, brambles and overhanging trees to allow sunlight to reach the water and give better access for kingfishers etc. The rubbish was cleared from the stream bed and the banks exposed - this should encourage water voles and the like to take up residence. The bridge on this part had been seriously damaged by floodwater, so part of the tasking was to dig out and position a large chunk of masonary that had been dislodged. We hope to rebuild this into the bridge wall at a later visit - watch this space...!

Many thanks to Carrie for the before and after pics - I note that she didn't send the ones of her in the waders for me to publish.........shame....!

Wed 9th Sept 2007 - Butterfly Walk @ Brading.

This week the Green Gymers were tasked to do a tidy up job at the Butterfly Walk on Brading Down. We were assured that under the undergrowth was a butterfly sculpture made out of woven willow - hard to believe when you look at the picture above....! A couple of hours of hard cutting back of the weeds and bramble revealed what appeared to be a broken down sheep hurdle. A little "re-shaping" was undertaken and eventually we managed to come up with something that resembled the original structure (please give us some artistic licence here....!). The other photograph shows some of the team that attended this week - well done to all. Several other jobs were completed to make this wonderful site even more inviting to the public - so no excuses for not taking a walk there now...!!!!!!!!!

Welcome back to the team from St George's who have now started a new year - thank's for your help.

The weather was glorious as we really are having a later summer this year - fingers crossed that it stays that way for a long time yet.

Many thanks to Carrie and Angela for the photographs.

Wed 5th Sept 2007 - Sunnycrest Nursery

This week the Green Gymers were back at the Sunnycrest Nursery - on the outskirts of Newchurch. This is a wonderful site to work at with a great staff and helpers plus the stunning views...!
The work package was to continue with the work we have been doing on the new garden area (see previous blogs for info) - this time we cleared a large area of scrub, trees and brambles. An area for a future willow dome was prepared with the site leveled and dug to a 12' diameter. Several large plants were dug out ready for resiting and all the available bird boxes / bee houses were treated with wood stain. So - all in all a busy time....! The weather was very kind, overcast to start with but bright sunshine as the day wore on.

Once again....many thanks to Carrie for the happy snappies.....:)

Note from the blog editor - The turf seat that we built earlier in the year is looking good. Thanks for keeping it watered and giving it the odd haircut....!