On the morning of 8th November volunteers gathered at a very sunny nature reserve, the main focus of thier work was helping with scything and raking the orchard and rough grassland areas. Other taskes focused on included: Mulching the trees Replacing some the dead hollies Strimming and weeding around the hedging plants.

This event in May was facilitated by the Catchment Lead, Thames 21, and supported by staff from the Environment Agency who are writing a ‘Catchment Management Plan’ for the Mill Brook. It was funded by Mend the Gap (see note at end). The purpose of the event was to get a wide range of perspectives on The Mill Brook to identify issues and opportunities to see if everyone can work more collaboratively in this catchment. It was well attended with over 50 representatives from wil

Anna Dillon, the guest speaker at our AGM in April, is part of the core team behind the Aston Nature Recovery Project in Pick’s Field. This field is the north of the bridleway between Aston and Blewbury (see photo). It is part of Blewburton Hill, being on its south side. Anna told us the background to the project. It is named after the house of the people who own the five-hectare site. The team have a fiveyear plan to improve the biodiversity of the site and have obtained som

This year’s reptile survey season (March to October 2025) is well under way and as things warm up, so too do our team of volunteers who have upped their efforts to one survey per week! This will provide us with an excellent data set across the season. Our surveys consist of carefully looking under 15 strategically placed “Refugia” (mats) and a quiet walk-over transect that takes in the various habitat types found across the reserve. Since 30 April, our team has found at least

Featuring in this update Events Quaker Wood opening, Repair café, Apple juicing, New Trustee appointed, Visit to Ardley Waste-to-energy Plant, Oxfordshire’s Great Big Green Week Quaker Wood Opening and Picnic, Sun 22 June, 12 noon to 3pm Come along to this special event to celebrate our new community wood. It’s the same day as the school fete and families and friends can enjoy both by following a trail between the two sites. Bring your own picnic (and rug) for lunch from 12 p

We described what we’ve been doing and discussed some of our newest projects: a new nature reserve and our Blewbury chalk-streams group....