We were joined by GG first timer, Mick, today who soon got stuck in, choosing his tool of choice.

We headed back to the area we were working in last time to do more coppicing of the Hazel trees. Jen also chopped down some older trees to encourage regrowth.

After the tea break, the main group resumed coppicing and layering whilst the remainder work on 'processing' i.e taking the cut off branches and cutting them down either into 5ft stakes, or binding, or infill for the tree guards that will be erected next month. The tree guards will stop the deer eating the newly exposed bark. We needed to prepare this job for April as its one of the few jobs we can do in bird nesting season.

Samuel met the BBOWT and Friends of The Millie volunteers at the usual meeting point and helped carry the equipment to 'base camp'.

The groups split into 2 subgroups, one group led by Karen went to coppice some trees further down the path, whilst Bob's group stayed on the reedbed to uproot the nettles and widen the water channels.

Jen was on a go slow this morning due to having pulled a muscle in her back and was also therefore on light duties. She arrived at the reserve, with her litter picker, about half an hour later and found the reedbed group. Some new tools caught her eye, that were apparently called Lazy Dogs to help with the uprooting.

Jen collected a couple of black bags and headed off to litter pick along the path, turning left first.

After tea break the two groups swapped over and Jen headed right along the path to continue litter picking. By the end of the session, several trees were coppiced, the channels were wider, nettles uprooted and 3 bags of rubbish collected.

All in all a good days work for a bunch of lazy dogs.

We welcomed Adam for his first good deed for GG and were joined by Sheila and Tessa from our neighbours at GG Windsor and Maidenhead (keen to tick another square off their bingo card 🤣).

The GG volunteers joined up with the BBOWT and Friends of The Millie volunteers and then split into two groups. Adam, Tessa and Sheila were in the reedbed group and Jen, showing off her new 500 t-shirt joined the coppicing group. The first job for the coppicing group was to break up and remove a fallen tree blocking the path.

The coppicing group then went round to a copse of Hazel trees and made a start coppicing them to encourage new growth.

Meanwhile the reedbed group were cutting back the vegetation and redigging some of the water channels made on previous visits.

After tea break the two groups swapped over so that everyone had chance to coppice. A couple of volunteers broke away from the main groups to litter pick too, so a variety of jobs undertaken with good progress made. We came, we sawed (& lopped), we coppiced.

What do you do the wet and soggy morning after clocking up your 500th Good Deed...?

Walk to Haymill Nature Reserve to meet the Friends of Haymill to do your 501st of course!

This morning the group split into two, with one group going to reinstall and information board and the bigger group cutting back the overgrowth so the pavement is passable and pick any litter uncovered along the way.

Amongst the litter picking haul were a shopping trolley, a suitcase, unopened cat food pouches, a bedside table, a door handle, a baby stroller and a 'To Let' sign along with 4 black sacks filled with regular litter. Our last job of the session was to unload Bob's van and then recreate a live version of Tetris to repack all the litter/fly tipping.

Jen and Sheila met up with volunteers from Friends of Haymill and Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) for their monthly working party.

Jen joined group 1 who were replacing an information sign at the main entrance to the reserve and Sheila helped group 2 to clear the reed bed and the previously dug drainage channels.

After tea break the two groups merged to work on the reedbed although Jen set off to litter pick around the pathway through the reserve.

Jen joined a small group of Friends of Haymill and BBOWT volunteers to rake up the nettles and reeds that a different group of volunteers had cut down earlier in the week.

Raking up the reeds was hard work so it was good that the nettles helped bind everything together so it could easily be rolled onto the tarpaulin.