Wed 29th Jun 2016 - The Duver and Priory Bay, St Helens. GG # 641.

Sue's Photographs.

Off we go….

Pulling that pesky plant.

Team GG at the seaside!

Then the rain came.

Two, of the three, Little Egrets that were spotted on the shore-line.

Just some of our "rich pickings".

Linda's Photograph.

Cinnabar Caterpillar.

(see this link for further info Cinnabar moth | Buglife )

This Wednesday should have been our "summer visit to the beach"- but the weather certainly wasn't summer-like…! I suppose we should have known that the chances of a blisteringly hot day were almost negligible as it did happen to coincide with Wimbledon Week. On the plus side, the forecasted heavy rain did manage to hold off until later in the session. Having all met up in the car park on the old golf links, we all grabbed litter picking tools and bin bags before headed off to collect as much litter as we could find. By tea time we had covered the area to the south of the beach huts and out as far as the mill pond. Some of the team had pulled the ragwort around the car parking area, taking care to avoid the plants with Cinnabar Caterpillars on them (see photo and link above). Having had a cup of tea it was off to do another litter pick, this time by the beach huts and along the shoreline towards Priory Bay. Unfortunately the rain that had been forecasted for earlier then decided to arrive so everyone got rather damp on the return trip. We collected many bags of assorted rubbish which contained a considerable amount of discarded bundles of fishing line. This is particularly hazardous to wildlife and pets so please could we remind any fishermen (or fisherwomen) to take all their old line, hooks etc home with them - thank you.

Ever wonder why The Duver is so named? See this link Duver - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A note from Mark.

Today's litter pick was supported by the HP Beach Clean Up Fund. Thank you to them and well done to everyone from Team GG for making such an effort..! Photograph shows the total amount collected.

Many thanks to Sue and Linda for taking the photographs this week.

Wed 22nd Jun 2016 - Arreton Down SSSI. GG # 640.

Terry's Photographs.

Hard at work...

Disposing of the Ragwort out of harm's way.

A nice example of a Pyramidal Orchid.

(well spotted Anne!)

The weather closes in at tea-time!

The ladies compete for the biggest Ragwort

plant of the day.

Linda's Photographs.

Some of the "boys" and a pile of the enemy.

Out there in the gloom.

A spider's web covering the door

of the Telly Tubbies' House!

Regular readers of this blog will notice that PPP (Pesky Plant Pulling) is perhaps not the favourite pastime for many of the members of Team GG. Usually, one of the things on the plus side for pulling Ragwort up on the downs, is the stunning views of the surrounding area. Due to the low cloud and misty rain on Wednesday morning, we were to be denied even that…! Having all met up in the recently developed Down End car park (a nice job by the new land owner) we disappeared off into the murk that engulfed the whole area. Brandishing various types of garden fork and clutching a bag for collection, it was time to try and track down every last Ragwort plant in the area. Considering that PPP is hard work and that the weather wasn't exactly perfect, we had a really good turn-out for this session - so a big "Well Done" to all those who attended.

Many thanks to Linda and Terry for the photographs this week.

Wed 15th Jun 2016 - Wroxall Stream (Barncourt Farm). GG # 639.

Linda's Photographs.

Back-breaking work...

Find that pesky HB….!!!

A well earned tea break.

Mark's Photographs.

Hemlock Water Dropwort.

Ragged Robin.

A Leafhopper.

The best view of HB - pulled up and in a pile!

The next-door neighbours show an interest...

Barn Swallows.

This week we continued our work at trying to try and eliminate the dreaded Himalayan Balsam from along the fields adjacent to Wroxall Stream. We have now moved south of the Donkey Sanctuary (see earlier blog entries) and working our way upstream, towards the camping site. The first problem was that, on arrival, both ends of Redhill Lane had "road closed" signage…! Being true 'corkheads' we just ignored this and drove past the diversion signs, only to be confronted by two tractors and a truck that were doing ditching work along the single track road! Mark managed to get permission for us to park in the adjacent camping site car park (many thanks to them) so it was a bit of a hike to the work site. The fields adjacent to this stream are left to grow naturally so the undergrowth can be head high in places at this time of year, making the location of the HB quite difficult. Working on the principle that every HB plant pulled out will stop the seeding of numerous new plants next year, we were soon spread out uprooting every one that we could locate. Some of the later team GG arrivals managed to get access to our regular parking spot in the adjacent field, so thank you to Barncourt Farm for giving us permission to use it. In spite of the rather difficult start to the session, it was well attended and the weather warnings for thundery, heavy downpours were not an issue (thank goodness!).

Many thanks to Linda and Mark for the photographs this week.

Wed 8th Jun 2016 - Ventnor Community Early Years Centre, Ventnor. GG # 638.

Terry's Photographs.

Removing the rubble.

"and the plan today is….."

Mark makes sure we always have the BEST tools!

The garden makeover starts.

A technical bit?

Wow, there is soil under all that rubble.

Normal position for the guys - at the sink!

Looking good.

Now…. doesn't that look a whole lot better???

One of the locals calls by to inspect the work.

A new venue for GG this week - at the Early Years Centre, Ventnor. We were tasked to try and convert what can best be described as a bomb site into a garden area for the children to grow things in and to do a complete make-over on a rather overgrown patch of existing garden. With the workforce split into two, each team got stuck in to try and make the magic happen! Team A cleared all the rubbish from the area and started to dig the "soil" over while creating a gated access and repairing the fencing. Team B were over the other side of the car park doing a weeding, trimming and general tidy-up on the garden area. The excellent photographs above (thanks Terry!) show the extent of the work and the improvements made during those few, short hours. Many thanks to the staff who kindly made the tea and coffee for us.