Past Activities 2011

5th October 2011
In preparation for winter we started spreading wood chippings on the paths and carried out some fence repair work.

7th September 2011
Cleared strimmed vegetation from the Bowl Barrow. The plan is to cut the growth more regularly to encourage the development of a grassy sward. Inspection was made of parts of the perimeter fence that will need some repairs during the autumn.

3rd August 2011
Continuing last month’s work, we tackled the middle of the North Down. Since we were further from the edges, there was less encroachment byroses and blackthorn, but lots of ragwort still blooming away.

6th July 2011
Armed with stout gloves and foot wear, and loppers and secateurs, we spread out across the North Down tackling scrubby plants and ragwort. We cut down roses and blackthorn which cause problems for the mowers, and pulled surprising amounts of ragwort.

1st June 2011
Before rain stopped play we began the task of cutting and removing the scrub saplings on the North Down before forage harvesting between 15 July and end August.

4th May 2011
We spent this afternoon cutting back new growth around the entrance gates to widen the access points to the Down. When they get overgrown, it concentrates the foot traffic and then paths get muddy, so this relieves congestion and opens everything up a bit.

6th April 2011
Another beautiful day for volunteering. We trimmed back brambles and sycamore along the fences of Magog Wood and Memorial Wood, which is done on a rolling 3 year cycle to leave the wildlife plenty of shelter. The sun shone, but the wind blew so we could not burn the brambles and we left them piled up for another day. The cowslips were just peeping out so we took care not to cover them over.

2nd March 2011
A record 11 people gathered on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon to
tackle the blackthorn that has established itself in Youth Wood and
Magog Wood. The blossom is gorgeous and the berries make a very good
liqueur (sloe gin), but it is encroaching on the North Down and makes
mowing very difficult. We piled the branches up avoiding the vicious
thorns and had a glorious bonfire.

2nd and 9th February 2011
In order to combat the mud, volunteers spent two afternoons spreading
wood chips along some of the paths. The chips are delivered from Wandlebury and then spread out to make the paths safer and more
pleasant to walk on.