Wed 28th March 2018 - Red Squirrel Dell, Ryde. GG # 728.

Mark's Photographs.

We were able to complete the jobs at the Red Squirrel Dell in Ryde. See the photos above.
We were planting some young blackthorn whips around the site and repairing the boundary fencing by putting in fence posts.
In addition we did a litter pick. The weather was pretty miserable but we came away thinking we'd done a good morning's work and the site was looking good, if a little muddy!

Thank you to Mark for the photographs and editorial this week.

Sat 24th March 2018 - Morton Common Extra.

A couple of items about Morton Common that have been sent in - thought they might be of interest?

The first is a press cutting (from Mark) taken from the County Press - dated 23rd March 2018..

The second is an aerial shot with the marsh shown on the bottom right of the picture. The main Brading to Sandown road and the railway line helps you orientate yourself. We initially had a problem dating it...but eventually Alex found the title bar..it reads...

 Sandown taken from the north at 400ft at 11:34 on 27/7/1963. 

We imagined it was earlier than that...! 

Thanks to Mark and Alex for contributing the items. Anything you have that might be interesting can be sent in for publication using the links at the top of the blog.

Wed 21st March 2018 - Cockleton Meadows, Gurnard. GG # 727.

Terry's Photographs.

Up-cycling a pallet.

Emptying out the storage container.

Frog spawn in one of the ponnds.

Construction of the roadway.

Mini croquet hoops?

Sorting out all the tent pieces.

Working on the container tool storage area.

Tea and home made cake.

A rather nice tree litchen.

Sorting out the compost area.

Making a base for the mud kitchen.

The puzzle continues......

New bat boxes going up.

A willow dome for the pond area.

The bare bones finished.

And finally.....the BIG top...!!!

Mud kitchen installed.

Tool storage completed.

Close-up of bat box.

The new "motorway".

Mark's Photograph.

Constructing the framework for the new willow dome.

With the second lot of "The Beast from the East" departed and the snow melted, our session this week was held in almost perfect weather conditions. It was warm enough to be working without a coat, some sun and light winds - plus a job list as long as your arm - all in all very pleasant. Martin soon had everyone working away at the tasks he had assigned them, which you will see from the photographs, was spread across the whole of the site. One thing is very certain, it doesn't matter how many times GG visits this venue, there will ALWAYS be plenty for us to be getting on with! Jobs tackled this time around included emptying out the container to construct tool storage, fitting more of the car park matting, sorting the compost bins out, fitting bat boxes, trimming back undergrowth plus numerous other tasks... phew we were busy! Tea break was held up in the picnic area and we were treated to some wonderful home made cake (many thanks to Martin's good lady!) Looking around this little wild life oasis makes you realise just how much has been achieved by everyone considering that it resembled an overgrown wilderness when we first visited just a couple of years ago.

Many thanks to Terry and Mark for taking the (numerous!) photographs this week.

Wed 14th March 2018 - All Saints' Church, Freshwater. GG # 726.

Terry's Photographs.

The pre-session briefing.

Work gets underway.

Cut it down... bag it up...then drag it away for burning!

Bramble was everywhere.

Rather spooky with the smoke drifting across.

For once, we had our tea break inside.

Working along the boundary wall.

Wow...that must have been some high tide.....!

Back to the battle with the bramble.

Shots below showing the cleared areas.

A rather nice shot of some Jew's ear fungus.

All Saints' Church at Freshwater has been a favoured GG venue for many a year now. We always seem to be working there just as the spring bulbs are starting to flower between the gravestones - such a great sign that spring will soon be with us. Not quite here yet though, as there was a strong chilly wind blowing (although it did stay dry!). The majority of our work was down in what is known as "the pasture" which is off to the eastern side of the graveyard. Once again the bramble had taken hold so it was a matter of chopping it down, then dragging it back before tossing onto the bonfire.  Everybody was on the look-out for any early nesting birds, to make sure that we didn't disturb them. This was a well attended session which meant that a huge area was cleared and all the arising disposed of. Another section of the group were gainfully employed working around the boundary wall, giving everything a make over. We were invited into the church for our tea break (nice to get out of that wind) where we were served with hot drinks and delightful home made cake - so a big thank you to the ladies who arranged that...!

Many thanks to Terry for taking the photographs at this session.

Wed 7th March 2018 - Morton Marsh, Sandown. GG # 725.

Terry's Photographs.

Gentlemen (and ladies!) please select your tree...!

Branching out..???

Dealing with the off-cuts.

We huffed and we puffed to get the fire away.

Nearly finished.

Now, that's what you call a "HAIRCUT"!

It was only a couple of weeks ago that we visited this "new" site but there was still plenty for us to be getting on with. Once again, the instructions were very simple "See those willow trees and that fencing over there? Take them all out!" With half the team removing barbed wire and fence posts the others set about reducing some rather tall willow trees to mere stumps. Why do we leave the stumps so high? It is so they can be treated before being finally chopped off at ground level. All the cut material was neatly  piled ready for burning at a later date. We did eventually get a bonfire away which enabled us to dispose of a huge clump of gorse. As can be seen from Terry's excellent photographs, we had some blue sky and a reasonable temperature - a far cry from last Wednesday when The Beast from the East first hit the Island!

Many thanks to Terry for taking the photographs this week.