It was a bright and lovely morning with the sun shining over the Ham Lands as a troop of seven super troopers gathered and donned fluorescent jackets for another round of helping develop the area as a habitat for the butterflies and their pals.

Sufiyo was away but we joined up with Sharon and the regular crew and divided into two groups. The task was similar to previous months, raking and clearing away the brambles and ivy that covered the ground.

As we cleared the debris we filled up giant sacks which we dragged over to the shrubs and deposited in a giant pile out of sight - which was good because it looked like a horde of giant dung beetles had passed through.

Jane and Kate were on litter duty, filling a sack with discarded wrappers and packets and returning the space to its natural state. Kate, Salwa and JP were “raking bad” and “baggin’ it up”, then stashing the evidence in the woods.

Meanwhile Rob the Rootman was rooting around getting to the root of the problem of a bReautiful root, which he eventually conquered and held aloft. Not to be out done, the Jack of Spades was gettin’ diggy with it, putting in the groundwork and not just digging for compliments.

After an hour and a half of committed Hamlanding we stood back and surveyed the site, satisfied with the clearance job we had done. Looking forward to next month and an even sunnier morning - and some butterflies on show!