Oxford Preservation Trust have a piece of meadow land up on Harcourt Hill which they want to use for grazing. A water supply has been sorted, fencing is on it's way, and the final job on the list is to get the ragwort explosion under control.

Common ragwort is one of the most frequently visited flowers by butterflies in the UK and more than 200 species of invertebrate have been recorded on it. However, despite it's benefits to biodiversity, it needs to be got rid of on grazing land. Ragwort poses a significant threat to livestock, particularly horses and cattle. While animals generally avoid it in its green state due to its bitter taste, they can ingest it when it's dried in hay or silage, or when other food sources are scarce. While ragwort is not a neurotoxin in the strictest sense, it can cause neurological symptoms in animals due to the liver damage it causes. The plant's toxins primarily affect the liver. When the liver is damaged, it can no longer properly filter toxins from the blood, leading to a buildup of these toxins and impacting brain function, resulting in neurological signs.

Hugging the shade, we set about digging and pulling up as much ragwort as we could. We managed a good haul, almost filling a tonne bag with plants. This is definitely an ongoing task, but we feel like we made a good start at it.

With the temperature finally starting to drop by the end of the session we had a beaut of a run post-task up towards Boars Hill.

Welcome to GoodGym Becca!

Linford Woods is a very pretty patch of woodland in Milton Keynes. The parkrun is a gorgeous 1 lapper through the trees on well maintained paths.

The vast majority of us were there for the run briefing with only Bethan zipping in at the last minute! After the usual applause for milestones and the all important volunteers we were sent to the start line.

The course was mostly flat with a few lumps and bumps around a couple of underpasses. We ran as a team which was lovely, and then ventured to nearby Costa for coffee, race chat and more parkrun planning.

Full results here

On Wednesday we were asked to help the Oxford Preservation Trust with work at Iffley Glebe.

GLEBE:
noun 1. HISTORICAL a piece of land serving as part of a clergyman's benefice and providing income.

We had a few tasks to take care of:

• Maintaining the ancient wall by weeding all the little plants that start growing in the crevices and end up damaging the wall structure. There were also nettles, sycamore and cottoneaster growing in and beside the wall which needed cutting back or pulling out. This will enable a proper assessment of the wall for repairs to be undertaken.
• A walk around the meadow, moving dead wood on the grass to the edges of the glebe so that as much as possible can be cut.
• Lopping down low hanging branches of trees overhanging the field, so that the tractor can get as close as possible when mowing.

Once suitably covered in bug repellent we set to work, whizzing through the list in record time. The run back to base was a delight, taking in the Thames path, but could have been improved by inhaling slightly fewer midges!

Thanks to Ben for the report title!