Last Minute Christmas Lopping

It was a mild evening when 6 keen GG'ers rocked up to Park Grove School, one perhaps their usual 2mins late, by which time the lopping was well underway and a pun already in place! What a cracker.

In a task slightly reminiscent of St Nicks' job creation, Park Grove needed to fill their skip, the willow could do with reducing in height, and GG tasks were filling up like nobody's business. It was this happy combination that lead to us arming ourselves with saws, mini saws, and one good pair of loppers, and setting to.

Pete has bagsied said loppers and was making swift work of the little and not-so-little bits, whilst John had an extra-good mini saw to speed through willows of all sizes. Cara meanwhile was valiantly wrestling with a bigger saw of questionable sharpness, and a width that made it tricky to get into small spaces. Katie did an excellent job of filing the offcuts by suitability for willow sculpture, with the rejects being transported to the skip by herself and Vicky, inbetween her locking up the school.

Initially the job seemed far too big for 6 people in one hour, but the minutes ticked by, and the willows fell, and it became apparent that we were going to smash it. It was very satisfying to see them all brought down to one level, although there were some bits that were almost too tall for tall-Pete-with-loppers, so we'll have to watch out in future. The last annoying bits trimmed, we scoured the ground for every skinny whippy twig that could become a weapon in a small child's hand, and transported the last bits round to the skip. Job done.

All credit for top-notch-punnage and report writing reminders (sorry) goes to Katie.