Sheila and Sarah helped out the local Wildlife Trust at Haymill nature reserve on a very warm day. Our task was to cut back the brambles and nettles, to stop them encroaching the path. Luckily we were mostly in the shade, as it was pretty hot in the sun. Sightings of a frog, and hearing the bark of a Muntjac deer reminded us of what a haven this is for wildlife in the middle of an urban environment

Regulars Mick and Jen were joined by newcomer David.

There were various jobs to do today. A small group went off to fix a sign board, another group went off to remove a pile of clothing strewn in the trees, a couple of people went off litter picking. Mick and David formed part of a team who took charge of chopping a dead tree down.

The rest of the group got to work removing nettles from the sedge bed.

Jen, Sheila and Sarah (doing her 2nd Goodgym task) joined 9 BBOWT/ Friends of The Millie volunteers for their monthly working party.

After taking the tools down to the reed bed, a small group stayed back to fill in a hole that had apppeared by the path.

Sarah paired up and went off on a litter pick and they collected 7 bags between them.

Sheila and Jen joined a small group who were uprooting the nettles and thistles that were strangling the reedbed.

A good mornings work all round with a final workout transporting the tools back to the van.

3 Goodgymers joined 9 Friends of The Millie/BBOWT volunteers to tackle the main job of the day: removing as much holly as possible to open up the foliage so the sun can shine through onto other plants and flora.

There was also some litter picking to be done, a fallen tree to be moved so it wasn't blocking the path and 2 abandoned bikes were removed from the stream.

A good mornings work all round.

A very active session today. We were back in the reed bed area with Mick giving a dam about improving the dam built last time and digging more channels.

Meanwhile Sheila and Jen joined a group clearing more of the reed bed, trees and brambles back. Lots of lopping, sawing and chopping. We cleared a good area by the end of the session.

Mick and Sheila joined six other volunteers at Haymill Nature Reserve to continue work on the reed bed. Mick was in the group building a partial dam across the stream to help divert the water through the reed bed. It was amazing to see the instant effect of their labours as the water began to flow down the channel. Mick then got a good workout digging to extend the channel. Meanwhile Sheila joined others in clearing scrub along the reed bed edge, contending with brambles, wild clematis and dogwood to stop them invading this precious space