Woodland Conservation Group - Friday

Friday, 16th January 2026

Jack Wood

We cancelled the rain, booked the sun and… hey presto, we were rewarded!  What lovely weather we had for our first Friday, Woodland Conservation Group session of 2026 and what a difference it made to our activities! A group of 20 volunteers joined us, including two new volunteers, and we split into three separate groups to continue our path-side activities.

Sunshine and Smiles!

Hazel Post & Binder Fence

The first group made excellent use of the products of our Coppicing Group sessions, carrying hazel posts and binders down from the yard to the opening of Lower Path. There, they constructed a hazel fence aimed at tackling the erosion of the grassy area at the opening of the path. Here, people, and dogs, are cutting the corner, turning the area into a muddy mess and, hopefully, the fence will help prevent the erosion which, over time, could lead to the collapse of the path opening and the undoing of the great path improvements carried out recently.

Woodland Step Clearance

A second group, armed with spades, brooms, and hand-brushes, set to work on two more long flights of steps and one small flight, removing the clay and mulch from the timber, providing an opportunity for the wood dry out and, hopefully, helping extend the life of the frames.  Following this, the brooms were used to clear the damp, slippery leaves off the steps themselves, improving safety for walkers and preventing further build-up of the mulch. 

Brambles on the Green Chain Walk

Yet again, the largest group of all returned to this area where they continued the back-breaking work of shovelling mud off the tarmac path, forking bramble roots out of the cleared verge areas and, again, cutting back even more brambles.  What a huge difference has been made to the paths and verges, though there remains much to do.  However, it is time to move on to start restoring and improving another area so the brambles will have to wait for now.  But…we will keep our eye out for rampant growth in the spring and will do our best to prevent the path narrowing as much in the future.

It’s Not All Work

A leisurely break mid-session gave everyone a chance to rest in the sun, to catch up with others, to get to know our new volunteers, and to chat about new projects.  Everyone works hard, putting in a huge amount of energy to improve areas for wildlife and visitors alike and …they wheel those heavy barrows and carry those weighty tools back up that steep path at the end of the session without complaint (while almost)! What more can you ask for?  

What a great group of volunteers we have in the Friends of Oxleas Woodlands.