This evening we headed back to Aston's Eyot for what will be our last session of 2026 until the spring. Completely understandable as it was getying very gloomy by the time we finished, the evenings are drawing in!

This session was a follow up to our thistle removal a couple of weeks ago and involved tackling more of the pesky prickly things.

The name of the game today was improving access so armed with a variety of tools including hoes (insert school-boy snigger), we lopped branches, scythed nettles, hoiked out thistle roots and created a HUGE pile for compost/minibeasts/creepy crawlies. The pile had to be compacted a bit and it was VERY satisfying to WACK it with a big stick!

Well done team! I think it's time to dig out the head torches and charge up my mini flood lights.

Autumn is coming.

Sunday morning saw 5 GG's return to Marston Forest Garden to help clear their pond area. We temporarily had to seek shelter from the rain but rewarded by two of the waterlillies coming into bloom whilst we were there. The lovely cake from Isobel also helped!

Mrs S asked me to cut back some large brambles and a shrub that were overhanging her back garden walls from a neighbour's house. She said that it was making her anxious looking at them and not being able to tidy them back and she was too nervous to ask the neighbours to tidy it from their side. So I was able to tidy them back and dispose of the branches and also trim and cut back her shrubs for her. The grass still needs a trim but she has an electric mower and feels that this can wait until she is feeling able to do a little bit herself or get a friend to help. She was very happy with the results and we enjoyed a cup of coffee and a chat afterwards. I am always interested to hear about Mrs S's life in India before she came to the UK.

We love a well planned task at Oxford GoodGym, and super organised host Meg had made us a to do list. Denny Gardens is still a work in progress, though one colourful plot shows what can be achieved.

First, tip 3 huge bags of (mainly) brambles from a previous working group over a very spiky fence. Then refill the bags and repeat. Next, pull back the membrane we'd de-weeded and dig out the weed roots underneath. Refill the bags and tip them over the spiky fence. Finally, re-cover the cleared section with the membrane, Bethan improvising with a wooden cudgel to bang the pegs in. Resourceful!

Good work everyone!

Quote of the task: "I can indeed procure you a scythe"

Today we returned to a regualar favorite: Aston's Eyot. This year we have done a whole range of tasks on this lovely nature reserve; clearing nettles, mending fencing, creating benches, litter picking and so on.

This evening, with the mizzly drizzle in the air (yes we've quickly moved on from complaining about the heat to complaining about the rain and dark) we gathered to clear a HUGE swathe of thistles to make way for the tractor mower and to make our precious fence more visible. Using a chop and yank method we managed to clear LOADS of space and rescued some bugs and voles in the process. We also shifted a log pile a few meters, making way for the tractor but preserving an important mini-beast paradise.

Thank you to the hardy group of 9 on our first rainy task in AGES and welcome to the gang Dom, lovely to have you with us!

Hey Bethan

You know you said the report could just be " Hey Bethan, I did the thing"? Well I did the thing.

Henry