As travel plans meant I would be unable to attend the December mission helping the Friends of Ham Lands, I decided to take a bit of time out of my Monday to lend a hand on their regular weekly session.

It was a larger group than the regular Saturday morning crowd and we were working on a patch of brambles tucked away in the woods. As usual the brambles were being a real menace and needed to be uprooted rather than just chopped back.

We used mattocks and picks to turn the earth and get at the roots, some of which were long and needed to be chased along until the root bulb could be found. But it was satisfying work and we made good progress before calling time for tea.

After a cuppa it was back to work for another 45 minutes and we kept pushing back the bramble tide. We filled sack after sack, all of which were emptied in a compost area not far from where we were working.

It was lovely to see the gang and wish them all happy holidays.

A lovely morning on the Ham Lands saw 8 happy GGers join the FOHL for our monthly session of habitat management.

We were back in the same spot as the last 2 sessions, working on the patches of wild clematis where the plants had been cleared away but the roots threatened to spring back to life if not tackled.

We got to work armed with various kinds of pick and scoopy-pick-thing and soon started to make progress. The challenge was chasing the roots up from the ground - many of them ran a long way through the earth like electrical wiring - but our patience paid off as we dug channels to get them free.

With 8 of us making a big effort we got a lot of the roots out of the ground and Sharon rewarded us with a lovely cuppa and biscuits.

Next time back at the Ham Lands will be the last of the year - hope to see lots of people there!

A very pleasant Saturday morning saw 6 GGers make their way to the Ham Lands for our monthly mission helping to preserve the natural habitat for all the good plant life and beasties that live there.

We were back in the same spot as last month, working to clear the undergrowth and overgrown areas and tackling the many troublesome roots which were riddled through the soil.

We set to work with choppers and loppers and picks and mattocks. The sun started to shine and we were visited by some very friendly dogs, including Pickle who won everyone’s hearts as she wanted to play ball with us all.

After some hard, satisfying work we finally downed tools and went for a coffee (and some treats) at the Swiss Bakery 🙂

Next time at the Ham Lands will be Saturday 8th November: sign up here https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-the-happy-ham-landers-5177c674-7330-4205-9be1-1294fa928609

After a wet start to Saturday, the sun came out for our monthly trip to the Ham Lands, where we met Sharon and her merry band to do some good in nature.

This week’s task was taking up the surface muck after the tractors had been through to remove a patch of wild clematis. It was satisfying work, although with plenty of rakes and only one fork we were gathering the muck into piles faster than we could fork it into the bags.

Nevertheless, we made good progress, dragging the heavy canvas bags 100m or so to deposit in a waste area. As we neared completion Sharon called for a tea break and we stopped for a well earned rest and a cuppa and biscuit.

We’ll be back at the Ham Lands next month on the 10th October. Sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/goodgym-richmond-helping-the-happy-ham-landers-0c77efce-4924-4f58-b321-3513b956ac7f

On a lovely warm Saturday morning, Sharon of the Friends of Ham Lands welcomed 5 Richmond GGers to do some good in the sunshine.

We first walked a good long way from the meeting point to the riverside on the other side of the Ham Lands, to find our target site. We needed to be near the river as our focus for the task was on “bashing” balsam.

Himalayan Balsam is an invasive species which grows rapidly in wetter areas during the summer months, blocking light for other plant life and generally causing a nuisance for native flora and fauna.

The great news is that bashing balsam is great fun. It’s very satisfying to pull up the plants, which can grow at least 10ft tall, and we made good progress, cutting a wide swathe through a densely growing area and building a huge pile of the bashed balsam.

The only problem was stinging nettles, and those who had come in shorts soon regretted that choice. We did our best to cut them down with loppers as we went, but a few stings and rashes were picked up along the way.

We finished up and headed out separate ways this time - the Swiss Bakery is closed in August. We’ll be back (and the bakery open again) in September - sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/goodgym-richmond-helping-the-happy-ham-landers-3b829ff3-0842-4cc9-96a6-49a17d3d149e

The annual GG Richmond battle with the highly invasive Himalayan balsam scourging local riverbanks has commenced and on a fiery Saturday morning, four fearless warriors stepped into the leafy arena.

While a few plucky nettles defending the tall foes hit their mark, they were no match for our gang who snipped and trampled them out of the way to reach the balsam, which they whipped from the ground to the sound of the familiar and satisfying ‘pop’ that only comes from defeating them roots and all.

Although there was some dappled shade to be had in the sheltered riverside oasis, it was certainly a warm one and when the deed was done our champions each departed to their chosen location for a horizontal afternoon.