This morning Katie, Vicky and myself ambled to Boundary Brook Nature Reserve (which is nearly 2000 miles from Istanbul) to ramble and scramble around raking up brambles. Unfortunately nobody there was called Campbell, but that's enough of a preamble.

We were let in by our friend Helen Edwards, the Reserve's Chair, who used a strimmer with a deadly bladed attachment to cut down the brambles at the northern end of the site. We didn't dare go near it, as risking our fingers would have been too much of a gamble. Once the brambles were down the area was in shambles, so we raked it all up and threw it on the compost heap, which soon grew so big that Helen had to climb on top of it and give it a good trample. The work was easier than it looked; in fact the time flowed by like the River Hamble.

Now what else rhymes with bramble? Jamble? Plamble? No... well I guess that's the end of the report then.

PS: See pics for before & after photos and Helen's 100% plant-based hat.