South Ward Allotments is a 5 acre plot on the Southern edge of Oxford. After the 2nd World War the allotments here spread from the Old Abingdon Road all the way over to Hinksey, but unfortunately the site now has a teeny bit of an image problem: It's a little bit out of the way and with around 50% occupancy there are quite a few neglected plots gradually succumbing to bramble inundation.

Emma, who's one of the allotment committee, asked us to help get some of the vacant plots cleared of brambles to make them more appealling to potential gardeners, and so we donned our long sleeves and long trousers to tackle the thorny problem.

The light is a bit against us on evening tasks now, but with a hot air balloon floating above and some lovely evening sunshine we managed a full hour of lopping and detangling. We unearthed raspberry canes and a sweet pink swing in the process and were gifted yellow and green courgettes from an allotment tenant as a reward - what will you cook up with yours?! 1 allotment plot down, many more to go...the plot numbering goes to over 200 at South Ward!

Emma has asked if we could come back a few more times, and so we'll look at future dates to try and clear more plots, although they'll obviously need to be at weekends for the next few months.