Wed 27th Sept 2017 - Fort Victoria, Yarmouth. GG # 704.

Mark's Photographs.

Repairing steps.

The pile is going down….S L O W L Y…!

The new pathway to the classroom.

Creating a new clearing.

Nice views.

Back to an old favourite of Team GG….. Fort Victoria. We used to visit this site frequently, in the past, but due to the re-organisation of the Council owned properties we had not been for some time. A quick historical fact here…. the first ever GG session on the Island was held at Fort Vic, back in September 2003..! We soon noticed that although we had been absent for a while, some things never change - a huge pile of limestone chippings and LOTS of wheel barrows greeted us. How long does it take to make a pathway through woodland using only shovels, wheel barrows and seven tonnes of material??? When Team GG are involved it is less than one hour! By tea time at 11o/c we had reduced the huge pile to just a few shovels full - so well done to everyone involved. The other big project of the day was to create a clearing in the woods which will eventually be used as an outdoor classroom. Although the bigger trees had been felled  and sectioned, there was still plenty of scrub and roots for us to grub-out and create habitat piles from. As per usual, we did a litter pick across the area we were working in and managed to collect lots of bottles and cans for recycling. A busy session but very enjoyable as it remained dry throughout. Please can we go back there again soon???

A message from Mark….Please don't forget that we are now bringing our own mugs along for the tea breaks. He still has a few more to hand out but from now on, each Team GG member is responsible for their own cup/mug. You have been warned.

Please do not forget Alison's Macmillan cake and coffee morning, next Friday - 10 till 12:30. Details were sent out by email.

Many thanks to Mark for taking the photographs this week.

Wed 20th Sept 2017 - Cockleton Meadow, Gurnard. GG # 703.

Terry's Photographs.

Clearing away the old compost.

Raking up the cut grass.

Rolling out the green carpet!

Moving the raked grass to the new compost bins.

Building the new composting area.

Tea time

Constructing the car parking area.

The new composting bins already in use…!

Fitting bird boxes.

Clearing out down by the pond.

Weeding the planting areas.

One of the (many) new bird boxes.

Mark's Photographs.

Rather than me trying to write about all the tasks that we attempted during this session, please look at all the photographs above - they seem to depict almost everything…! Although it was a little on the cloudy side, it was a nice warm day AND it stayed dry, so we had a really good attendance. One thing is certain about our visits to Cockleton Meadows, we are NEVER left looking for work. 

Many thanks to Terry for the excellent photographic record of our work this week.

News Flash…!

Before you discard this week's County Press (dated 15th Sept 2017) into the re-cycling bin, have a quick look at page 28. Green Gym has bagged half a page under the heading "Keeping the Island in shape". There is a nice group photograph (with a close-up of that yummy cake) plus a couple of photographs taken from the blog - nice one Terry for taking them. Didn't we do well…!!!!

If you don't happen to pick up a copy of the CP, then try this link.

http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/Milestone-for-Isle-of-Wight-Green-Gym-316519.aspx

Wed 13th Sept 2017 - Dodnor Creek LNR, Newport. GG # 702.

Terry's Photographs.

Site information.

Time for tea and biscuits..!

Trimming back the overgrown areas.

The finished pathway.

As strange as it may sound, parking in Stag Lane has become an issue..! Having unsuccessfully tried to find a space down by the Vestas factory, it was back up the road to the pond area before the double yellow lines disappeared. Oh well, a good walk to the work site must constitute a warm-up? For once we were all working on the one job, rather than tackling numerous different tasks - and it was hedging. The pathway that runs from the old railway bridge to the mill pond causeway had become somewhat overgrown and the chestnut fencing that ran along one side of it was rather patchy. We were asked to cut back the over hanging material and use it to fill the gaps with dead hedging. Where possible, the team used their hedge laying skills to re-enforce the old fencing. Although there was a few light showers during the morning, we all remained reasonably dry - something of a rarity recently..! This footpath is a considerable distance and we managed to tidy up the whole thing in the one session so well done to all those who attended.

Many thanks to Terry for the photographs.

A message from Alison.

Hi all

As mentioned last week, I am hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning on:

Friday 29th September

10.00 - 12.30

Venue:  37 Ratcliffe Avenue, Ryde

It would be great to see some of you.  All cake-y type donations welcome (or at least a packet of fig rolls!).

Thank you

Alison

Wed 6th Sept 2017 - Wetland Walk, Adgestone. GG # 701.

Terry's Photographs.

Site information.

"When I nod my head…hit it!"

The great rake-off.

Much discussion on pruning an apple tree.

Overgrown..??? Not for long!

This little fella was carefully re-homed.

The lumberjacks hard at work.

Tea time.

Some of the areas that were cleared.

What a difference from those "before" shots above.

Woo hoo….. finally, a GG session when it didn't RAIN….! Similar to last week, we headed out to the water works at Lake but this time we were gainfully employed at the Wetland Walk / Picnic site. Apparently, GG has been attending this venue since 2004 and it has proven to be very popular with Team GG over the years. This time we were here for an end of season make-over, raking up the pre-cut grass, trimming back anything overgrowing the pathways and giving the numerous fruit trees a bit of a prune. Two jobs were a little more taxing…. a couple of rather large trees required sawing up and the swing gate at the site entrance was in need of partial rebuild. The work progressed very well and by the end of the session the whole area was looking "sorted".

Mark did mention that due to rearranging the GG base facilities, that the "communal" tea mugs could no long be dish-washed. It has been decided that everyone will now be responsible for their own mug so don't forget to bring it along next week…!

Many thanks to Terry for his excellent photographs this week.