Recent volunteer activities

As written elsewhere, volunteering plays a vital part in the upkeep of Magog Down. The monthly Magog Volunteer working party  gets involved in planting new hedges and trees, removing shrubs that are encroaching on to the Down, removing and reducing invasive plants, such as ragwort and thistle, before they seed across meadow areas, mending benches, cutting back ivy … the list is never-ending.

We thought Friends and visitors to the Down might be interested to learn what the working party has been doing recently. Below is a list of the activities carried out by the Magog Volunteer group in recent months.

As the summer has progressed, the volunteers have spent considerable time removing ragwort, thistles and other invasive weeds from the Feoffee Field, Colin’s Paddock and the clunch pit on Little Trees Hill.  During the spring, a group took down the former perimeter path fence in the Picnic Field to improve access for visitors to Rotary Wood.  In the first three months of 2022, the working party devoted several sessions to digging up and clearing bramble and Wild Clematis in Lower Memorial Wood.  The new year began with cutting back along the shrub edge on North Down to maintain an attractive scalloped edge and prevent shrub encroachment into the meadow area.

Shows volunteers tidying up and clearing wild clematis in one of the woods on Magog Down

Clearing Wild Clematis in Lower Memorial Wood

On each occasion, the group was supervised by our two Rangers, Nick and Claire Beale. Our thanks to the volunteers who support us in these vital tasks month in month out.

If you are interested in becoming involved and joining the Magog Volunteer working party, please complete the form on the Volunteering page and we will be in touch.