WORKING PARTY REPORT AND PHOTOS: 4TH AUGUST 2022

Here’s  a report full of interesting detail from FOGG working party volunteer Phil Lee:

Today (Thursday 4th August), four (the festival may have had some effect on numbers) enthusiastic volunteers concentrated on the area through to the lawn from the south. We continued to open up the zone to the south of the path down to the brook. Whilst there is still a lot of nice shade and cover, the ground is being opened up to some sunlight. We also started clearing the rear of the mass of brambles between the path and the brook, albeit we will need some EDDC help with removal and to clear higher vegetation. The three tree ferns on the corner down to the brook are much more exposed to some sunlight, and already look like they are enjoying it. There is one plant on the edge of the path, next to the tree ferns, which we are leaving until professionally removed, as it is poisonous. 

Passers-by continue to appreciate our efforts. Thanks to Paul, we can now field questions like ‘Why not re-wild?’ with commentaries about what re-wilding really is (and it is not just to let things grow, which leads to a predominance of a small number of species, and low biodiversity) and what we are going to achieve in Glen Goyle. When we have finished (which of course will be never) the biodiversity will have leaped from ‘poor’ to ‘splendid’.

Photos by Phil Lee of FOGG