Wed 30th Jan 2008 - Pan Allotments.

The hedge to the east of Pan allotments was the focus of our attention this week. Work was started on this project last year - when we cleared out the first half of the hedge prior to hedge laying. This week we were back to do the same to the second half - clearing out all the rubbish and dead wood ready for the rangers to come in and do the "technical" stuff...! It is amazing what you find in the bottom of a hedge - we found a whole trailer full of scrap including a sink and a toilet cistern (but NOT a KITCHEN sink..!!!) All the bramble, ivy and dead wood was pulled out then piled up ready for burning. The work carried out last year looks really good and has inspired us to get on with the remainder. Once again the weather was very kind to us and we had a good turn out of GGers.

A note from Carrie with the pictures this week - they found a ladybird during the work - is this the first of the year?

Wed 23rd Jan 2008 - Mundsley Bog Godshill.

This week we were back at Mundsley Bog on the outskirts of Godshill. Frequent visitors to this blog site will know that this is a continuing project for the Green Gym and we have made good progress at trying to tame the overgrown area. Previous visits had us questioning if the area had been misnamed but we can now see why the area is designated as a BOG......we certainly needed the wellies on this time around...! It is very satisfying to look back at the previous blog entries for this place and to see how much we have managed to clear. A big pat on the back for all those who have made it possible. Perhaps the boggy water plants will now stand a chance and the area will look something rather than just a very overgrown tangle of brambles and willow.

The photographs were from the ever present Carrie......thanks.

Wed 16th Jan 2008 - Maurick Farm Pan.

And yet another new work site for the Green Gym brigade... This one is sandwiched between the edge of Pan Estate and Pan stream - just to the north of Price's Garage. As can be seen from the above "before and after" shots (nice one Carrie!) - the job involved hacking back the overgrown area and clearing the huge amount of debris that had accumulated there over many years. We managed to totally fill the ranger's twin axle trailer with the rubbish we found and that didn't include all the brambles and weeds...! Why do people think that the countryside is a good place to dump all their unwanted goods..???????? This site is part of the Pan initative being done by local volunteers - we hope that this is a good start in that area and wish them well with the rest of the work they have planned. The session was well attended and the weather was excellent - considering the amount of rain we had before and since.

Wed 9th Jan 2008 - Alverstone Marsh

And so we start on 2008.....! Our venue this week was back at an old favourite of Green Gymers - Alverstone Nature Reserve - to do what we are really good at......land clearance. The before and after pictures above shows exactly what can be achieved in a morning. The drainage ditch was very overgrown with willow and is due to be dredged in the near future - so we were tasked to cut it all back and make habitat piles getting it all ready for the JCB to work on the banks. Considering the number of people that are suffering from either the cold or sickness viruses that seem to be doing the rounds at the moment, we had a good turn out. The weather was kind to us with a dry morning - something of a rarity recently.
Many thanks to Carrie for the pictures.