This is a new venture working in this park off Benmead Road, Kidlington, July 2009. Many hands really DID make light work, clearing a huge bramble patch and tons of litter, most of which we recycled. A second visit is scheduled in August.

We were asked by the Courtyard Youth Centre to make a wildlife garden in their small space. We completely denuded it, discovering 2 abandoned nests, a mass of rubbish and a disgusting fag bucket. Cruel to be kind they say. Well many of the plants will spring up afresh, and the newly dug soil was home for a host of mainly shade loving self-perpetuating herbaceous and wild flower plants which will attract insects and birds. We will revisit to keep an eye on it!

We were commissioned by the District Council to plant a flower bed in Manorsfield Road to enter as part of Britain in Bloom. By July they were blooming well and contributed toward Bicester winning Gold in the regionals and Silver in the nationals!

Spring cleaning hit the group during April and May as we cleared 8 bin bags of landfill rubbish and 7 bags of recycling from the field next to the Sports Centre, opposite Biester Community College. We also got rid of rubbish which had blocked the stream in Bure Park for many years. In all, 5 bin bags plus a ton of wood and polystyrene foam.

In 2008 & 2009 we assisted the Town Council in planting flower beds alongs Manorsfiled Road, pictures of which can be seen here and in “Worksites”. However, this area is to be redeveloped soon as part of the Town Centre make-over, with the stream being redirected, several trees felled and our flower beds taken away. Hopefully we will have a new spot. In the meantime, savour this picture from 2009.

We were invited by the Oxfordshire Geology Trust to help expose Cornbrash and Forest Marble rock faces, including marine fossils and signs of sea movement, at the Greenhill Farm Quarry, near Bletchingdon/Kirtlington. We took down a lot of vegetation and chipped away at earth to expose the rocks. It was a sunny day and the company was good.

On 5th September we joined forces with Bure Park Residents Association and the Community Payback team, to sand down and wood stain the 15 or so benches around the site. The weather was perfect and the stain, donated by B&Q looked great on the benches.

In April 2009 we enjoyed a session with Jane Craven (BTCV) and around 20 teenagers & helpers. We made a habitat pile, stuffed with tubes, fabric, bricks, sticks, logs and more, a lot of it found on site. Some of it man-made recyclables. Also bird & bat boxes. Of course tea break was a big feature! Our youngest helper was aged 3 and helped carry our new mascot, who sings “If you go down in the woods today…” . Very appropriate! (He was found during a litter pick one day, poor thing!).

We tend this patch in the Woodland Walk regularly. Here you can see it weeded of cow parsley & nettles, allowing light in on the recently finished snowdrops. We hope to cultivate bluebells too. (April 2009).