Wed 25th July 2018 - Lynch Copse, Newchurch. GG # 745.

Tony's Photographs.

Mark's Photographs.

Bob's Photograph.

This week was our final Himalayan Balsam pulling session of 2018....yay...! We all met up in the carpark by the school then headed off on something of a route march down to the work site. It didn't really help that it was on one of the hottest days of this year but.... we eventually arrived and started work on a rather large clump of HB. Had it just been that we had to pull the head high plants up, then that would have been easy - which is never the GG way, we had to contend with the heat, an electric fence, stinging nettles and a well hidden deep ditch...! Oh well...might as well end the HB pulling season on a high :-) In spite of the perils, we did make good progress at eliminating all we could find so perhaps there will be a few less to pull next year..?  (we are ever hopeful..) We now just have the last of the ragwort sessions and that will be the PPP over for another year, hooray!

A note from Alison.

 I received my copy of the HIWWT magazine and noted we had a mention. Thought you might be interested if you hadn’t seen it.

Many thanks to Tony and Mark for taking the photographs this week and to Alison for her contribution.

Wed 18th July 2018 - Dickson's Copse, Newport. GG # 744.

Tony's Photographs.

Mark's Photographs.

 This week we returned to Dickson's Copse to continue with the improvements to the woodland. There have been several other groups working on this site plus some GG members doing "extra" sessions all of which has enhanced the area considerably. This week it appeared that Mark has taken his lead from Nick the ranger..... two huge piles of limestone chippings were pre-dumped at either ends of the site....and then he turns up with a trailer full of wheelbarrows, just what you want during a heat wave...! With the majority of the Team tasked to improve the various pathways that criss-cross this area, a small group were dispatched to finish installing the steps that were started at a previous session. Once the "risers" were installed it was just a matter of back filling the boards with barrow loads of the limestone chippings (see photograph above). One area of pathway that needed attention was beyond these new steps so every barrow load had to be manhandled up the seven steps - phew..! Tea break was taken at the new "themed" seating area which is adjacent to the intersection of the cycleway and the path leading down alongside the mill pond. It consists of three blades radiating from a central mill stone and the blades have the facility to park cycles incorporated within them, a nice area to sit and recuperate after a hectic time repairing pathways. As with every session recently, it was hot with blue skies which is all wonderful until you start manual labour :-))

Many thanks to both Tony and Mark for this week's photographs.

Wed 11th July 2018 - Barncourt Farm, Wroxall. GG # 743.

Bob's Photographs.

Down...deep in the jungle...something stirs..!

(and yes, he is standing up!)

"You have missed one....over there.."

Tea break - note the clear blue sky.

No shortage of HB to pull here..!

This week Team GG continued their summer onslaught against the dreaded Himalayan Balsam - by visiting Wroxall stream to the east of Barncourt Farm. Many thanks to the farmer who allowed us to park in the field adjacent to the site. Before tea break we concentrated our efforts to the fields on either side of the far southern end of the stream, just before where the holiday camp starts. Sometime previously, someone has mechanically cut this area so we worked our way though, picking off the ones that had been missed or that had grown recently. It was noticed that the HB had grown somewhat differently this year with thicker stems and more leaves closer to the ground....perhaps due to the lack of rainfall over recent weeks? After tea break we focused on the field to the north of where we had parked. As can be seen from the photographs above, there were some dense pockets of this pesky plant but, in general, there seemed to be far less than we have pulled in previous years. The day started cloudy but by the time we got around to having tea, the clouds had gone and it was bright blue sky once again. Well done to all those who attended.

Wed 4th July 2018 - Watershoot Bay, Niton. GG # 742.

Mark's Photographs.

Alison's Photographs.

Two photos of ammonites (found on the beach).

We had 26 people picking this week here on our MCS Adopted Beach. Large number of smaller fragments collected, on this, our 11th year. So less bags filled but an equally if not even more important job of removing these easily ingested plastic pieces from the habitat.

Many thanks to Alison and Mark for their contributions this week.