Wed 30th Dec 2020 - GG Virtual Session # 027.

 Team GG stragglers at the end of 2020...!

I am sure many of our readers will be glad to see the back of 2020...what a year..!!! Our last Zoom meeting of 2020 started with a discussion about something very topical, Covid isolation. Two of the group had recently been informed that they had been in contact with someone who had tested positive and had to self isolate. I suspect that a few more of us will be subjected to this before they get around to vaccinating everyone. 

The next topic of conversation was that old favourite, the weather. Storm Bella seems to have kept many of us awake on Boxing Day night - including power cuts and structural roof damage 😟. The weather theme continued with flooding at Ryde and some of the harsher winters when the Island actually got some snow. Couldn't end the year without mentioning our wonderful new floating bridge so we had a chat about a suitable crossing point for a Trans-Media Bridge (doesn't that sound grand..!) What with certain areas being covered by SSSI's and a council that isn't renowned for making snap decisions, I doubt that I will be driving across it in my lifetime 😏.

Well Team Green Gym, that is about it for 2020. We hope you all managed to salvage something out of Christmas and that everyone will be back out enjoying the countryside sometime in 2021.

Wed 16th Dec 2020 - Shide Quarry, Newport. GG # 836.

Easy to spot where the team were working..!

A good turn-out for the last session of 2020.

 And so to the final GG session for 2020 - what a year it has been...! With as many virtual sessions as "real" ones, we have all had a steep learning curve as far as technology goes 😀. As nice as the Zoom sessions have been to enable us to stay in touch, there is no getting away from the fact that being outdoors doing something useful is a fundamental part of Green Gym. 

This week we continued last week's task, scrub clearance down in the chalk quarry at Shide. Due to the present Covid regulations, it was not possible to hold our traditional Xmas party but almost everyone brought along their own drinks and refreshments which were consumed whilst keeping socially distant. You can see from the photos above that it was a rather grey day, with little wind, hence the bonfire smoke lingering in the bowl of the quarry but there was still a good turn-out. Well done to all those who managed to attend.

Make sure that you look after yourselves over the upcoming holiday season and we  hope to see everyone back at Green Gym in 2021 (it just HAS to be better than 2020..!).

Wed 9th Dec 2020 - Shide Quarry, Newport. GG # 835.

 Terry's Photos.

A well earned, socially distanced, tea break..!

As you will have seen from the photographs above, this week we actually got to go along to a REAL Green Gym session 👍. Although the decision to hold it at Shide was made very late, a good number of GGmers braved the cold and got stuck into some coppicing around the perimeter of the tree line. Each year we tackle a different area in an attempt to keep the central bowl of the quarry open and free from undergrowth and shrubs. Obviously, nature has not told the shrubs and brambles that they are NOT supposed to grow during Covid-19 lockdown periods so...there was plenty for us to be getting on with. Nice to have been tackling so real GG work once again, fingers crossed that we will be able to continue. Still no firm decision about a Christmas bash this year but there is a definite, possible, maybe, that we MIGHT be back at Shide Quarry again next Wednesday so.....keep an eye on your e-mail in tray and hang on to that spare box of mince pies, just in case..😀.

Many thanks to Terry for taking the photographs this week.

Wed 2nd Dec 2020 - GG Virtual Session # 026.

 Team GG members that were in attendance this week were.....

The numbers were down a little this week, perhaps everyone was out shopping now we have (yet again!) come out of nationwide lockdown...??? Fewer people did not restrict the conversation and...as per usual, a wide range of topics came up for discussion. The first item was the E-scooters that are now available for hire in Newport and the misuse of said items. This was widened into bikes on pavements, mobility scooters etc etc. Then a weekly favourite, a progress report on the St Mary's traffic intersection. The general consensus was that the traffic was flowing reasonably well but last minute lane changers (especially the ones that NEVER indicate their intentions..!) are an issue - so use with caution 😏. Next up was the cycleways that use the old railway tracks and memories of Newport station. I found this interesting web site that you might wish to look at, it certainly stirred a few memories for me

iow_station_index.htm.  We then chatted about the chances of reinstating the old Ryde / Newport line but certain sections had been sold off so might be problematical. This was recent press coverage of such a suggestion  Railway-plans-for-Newport-and-Ventnor. .... a nice idea but doubt that I will be travelling on it during my lifetime..! Personally, I think a road bridge across the Media would be a better way of spending our taxes.

Still no news about the chances of us holding a GG Christmas Party at Shide but NEVER say never 😀.

Stay safe everyone and keep wearing those masks...😷.