Wed 14th Dec 2016 - Shide Chalk Pit, Newport. GG # 665.

Mark's Photographs.

The mist that greeted us on arrival.

Hart's-tongue fern.

Oh so busy….!

"Disposing" of the cut material

All hard at work.

Perhaps part of the old boiler,

from when this was a working quarry?

The area we cleared.

And so to the final GG Blog for 2016…! It has become something of a tradition that the final GG session of the year is held at at Shide Chalk Pit - with the Christmas celebrations, al fresco, immediately afterwards. Nick the ranger (no….not Old Nick…lol) had us cutting back the shrubs and undergrowth that surrounds the stream, to the northern edge of the pit, then drag it all to a huge bonfire for disposal. Although there was a rather cool, low lying, mist when we arrived - the sun soon climbed above the trees and it was a wonderfully bright day. The noonday temperature was up around 12C, amazing for mid-December..! Initially, the lack of a breeze gave Nick bit of a problem with getting the fire alight but he persisted and it was soon roaring away. Having worked up a real appetite, it was time to tuck into all the wonderful "goodies" that was assembled on the tables. Thank you to everyone who brought along the tasty treats and a special "thank you" to Gwen and Jeff for supplying all the piping hot jacket potatoes.

Many thanks to Mark for taking the photographs this week.

With this being the 10th year of the GG Blog, I thought you might want to have a quick look back to the first blog we did for the Xmas bash in 2006. Click on this link for a trip back in time..
Wed 13th Dec 2006 - Shide Quarry

So, that's about it for 2016 except to wish you all a Very….

and we look forward to seeing everyone next year. Enjoy the holidays!

Wed 7th Dec 2016 - Munsley Bog, Godshill. GG # 664.

Mark's Photographs.

Just so the locals know what we are doing….

Raking up the pre-cut area.

Cutting into the undergrowth.

A much clearer bog..!

Had the weather on Wednesday morning been similar to Tuesday, then I could have started this report with "Bob the Blog at Munsley Bog in the fog! In fact, Wednesday dawned clear, with an overnight temperature of 10C and the occasional glimpse of the sun - amazing for December. Having assembled at the scout's hut it was a short walk, across the playing fields, to the work area. Our friendly ranger had  made a great job of cutting down some of the overgrown patches so it was straight in with rakes and pitch-forks to clear it all away. By tea break the majority of the pre-cut area had been raked over and work continued to hand cut the willow saplings, bramble and undergrowth. This was a very well attended session but perhaps it was the GG Christmas dinner that was to follow that attracted everyone, rather than the delights of raking up at Munsley Bog…lol. Maybe one of the party revellers could write up a short report for publication? (Any photographs could be subject to censorship!)

Next week it will be our final session for 2016 and we will be having our traditional "Xmas Bash" at Shide Chalk Pit. Mark has already explained where we can park this year (revised parking plan due to the road diversion for the new Asda Store) - please be very careful if you are choosing to cross the main road. Mark would appreciate an e-mail from anyone bringing along food, just so we don't end up with hundreds of mince pies..!

This will be the final chance to buy your loved ones the "must have" present for Xmas - a wonderful Green Gym beany hat - now on sale for an amazing £3.50 - what a bargain!

Photographs this week were taken by Mark, so many thanks to him.

Wed 30th Nov 2016 - One Horse Field, Totland. GG # 663.

Sue's Photographs.

A very frosty start.

Raking gets underway.

Baby adder - see notes below.

Drag a bag game…. off to the compost heap.

A good few at the session considering the cold start.

Just look at that wonderful raking action…!

One of the areas we cleared.

All ready for collection by the bag man / woman.

Did we collect all that..????

You know that it is going to be a cold GG session when you have to de-ice the car before leaving home. The relatively mild autumn we have had so far has suddenly taken a turn for the worst with a cold snap. Never mind, as cold as it was (-5C overnight in Newport) Team GG were soon raking away under a beautiful blue sky. Such was the enthusiasm, that after only half an hour, some people were seen to be removing scarves and hats as they were starting to overheat..! The task was a continuation of the work carried out here just a couple of weeks ago, namely raking up the previous cut grass to deny the soil the nutrients as it rots down. It is very important to look where you are raking just in case you come across any wildlife, such as the baby adder photographed above. This one was carefully re-homed away from the footpaths and the areas we were working in. Quite a good attendance considering the weather.

Many thanks to Sue for taking the photographs this week.

Wed 23 Nov 2016 - Bouldnor Forest, Yarmouth. GG # 662.

Sue's Photographs.

Enroute from the car park to the work site.

Details of where we were working.

A rather grey day..

Starting the giant hair-cut..!

Now that's a real bonfire…!

What a busy bunch.

Stunning views from up there.

Cough… splutter…. cough..!

Did we clear all that..???

It was back in February, this year, that we last worked at this venue. The job was much the same as before, to chop down the vast areas of gorse and bramble, drag it to the fire and let it burn. This time we were working with some of the volunteers who look after this area - they did an amazing job at starting and feeding the fire. The reason we were tasked to cut all this back was to try and give the small patches of heather a chance to grow. The weather was much better than it had been over the previous few days when storm Angus had made thing pretty wet and VERY windy across the whole of the UK. 

Surprisingly good progress was made (see above photographs) and everyone had a good work-out.

Many thanks to Sue for the photographs this week.

Wed 16th Nov 2016 - Merstone Station, Merstone. GG # 661.

Terry's Photographs.

Guess where we worked this week…????

Nice hat - GG ones available - ON SALE - for £4.!!

Get raking. (And just look at that sky!!)

Forking out.

It pays to advertise...

Meanwhile, down on the compost heap.

What a poser…lol.

Just some of the clippings.

The "big boys" barrow.

Ahhhh - Christmas is almost here.

What a massive improvement…!

Our recent run on "raking jobs" continued with this week's session working on, and around, the old platform area of Merstone station. Before we arrived, Nick the Ranger had made a great job at chopping down all the summer growth so it was a simple enough job for us….. just rake it all up! There really isn't a whole lot more that I can write about that except to say that everyone worked very hard and by the time we left the site was almost cleared. The weather was truly remarkable - wonderful sunshine and the temperature well into the high teens - amazing for mid November!

For those of you who might be getting a little tired of all this raking, Mark has promised that he has something different planned for us next week.

Thanks for taking the excellent photographs this week Terry.