Photo Gallery

The beginnings of the bonfire

lunch!

Climbing Mount Fog

At the summit

Amazing juncus plantation - surely pedestrians will now not stray off the path!

Where is jo?

Hmmm... not sure what's going on there!

Lunch time

Scrub clearance

Lunch time

"Jew's Ear" mushrooms

Firewood from coppicing

A tasty treat? (Please don't do this unless you really know what you're doing!)

Building a cordwood stack

Preparing hedgelaying binders

Where's me lunch?!

The new tool shed?

The hedge at the end of the day

One down....

After siding-up

Nathalie demonstrating the art of rake leaning like a true OCV veteran

The end of a great day

Tim is the counterweight

Ready for work. Now where did those tools go?

Finishing the gate and dead-hedge

Rise and shine (the sun, that is.... not an OCVer in sight)

Setting up

Happy moonlit campers

Map of Chalkhills (with our work sites in red)

Well earned lunch break

All members as welcome, Pippa included

We don't just build walls, we also build the ancient treasures of Egypt

Sand drawing - which species of tree is this?

Everyone hard at work

Ragwort pulling

A very fine straining post

Pouring the tea

tea break

The obligatory 'before' photo

Where do we start?

The Tackley Heath Pond

Starting work

Tea time

Pollarding completed

The duck decoy

Putting in uprights for new platform

Pond creation

Newly extended ponds ready for the wildlife to move in

Hard at work

Training from an expert

OCV crack team of pond diggers, not put off by the scorching heat

Starting to extend the main pond, and create smaller ponds

Fortunately, we have not been asked to trim this chap's toenails

Sheep pedicures

Select your sheep

Entrance to the wood

Carrying the tubes that have been removed

Taking a break

How many OCVers does it take to build a stile?

Completed stile

The master class - see how easy it is...

Tools of the trade

A much needed tea break

Starting a post hole

Post-bashing

Finishing off

Revetments ahoy!

The unblocked footbridge

Getting ready to play hide-the-pipes

Steep scramble on our walk

Playing pass the pigs at the NT base camp

Beautiful scenery... lucky Welsh people!

Habitat pile

Some of the rubbish we collected

View up the Thames

Fen after clearing

Tea-making

On route to the bonfire

Cutting back the smaller dogwood

Admiring Tim's good work

The two Mikes are perfecting the art of leaning on a slasher and 'supervising' the fire.

Lunchtime

Pirate wellies...Arrrrrrrr...

The gang

Skating makes your eyes go funny!

Kate is amazed at how ingenious brambles really are!

Finishing work for the day...

There's nothing left!

Catherine from the Friends of the Trap Grounds

Our amazing habitat piles!

Tools talk

More fire...

Our new OCV tree!

Putting the finishing touches to the hedge

Completed section of hedge

This cord wood is being piled up, dried out and will be used for burning or maybe making charcoal.

Brian, our wonderful trainer

Counting tree rings

Lunch time leaf-gazing

Starting work

Something was already growing in the habitat pile

Habitat pile made from wood moved off the flood plain

More happy volunteers

Packing up behind the completed fence

Happy volunteers

Before our work

Volunteers at work on the hillside

Tea break

Ripping out the old fence netting

Monkey strainers in all their glory

New fence completed, allowing hedge to expand.

Swanage Bay

Relaxing on the grass after a hard days walling.

Isle of Wight in the background

End of the first day.

New post positioned by string line

Pro-fencing team work on new straining post!

Straining post complete, ready for wire.

Grass has been cut

Chiselled chestnut fence joint

A bit of planing and chiselling

Errected chestnut fence

Dismantling the old fence

English Stonecrop (close-up!)

Pyramidal Orchid

Devil's-bit Scabious

Common Spotted Orchid

Grubbing out bramble roots to abate regrowth

Finished, stock-proof, post & wire fence section!

New straining-post hole is completed, with the removal of a stubborn rock!

Trainer Brian instructs on the science of the 'monkey strainer'

Perfect line of new posts ready to take the line-wire

Chris 'The Verifier' Skepper - keepin' it right 'n' exact..

Dan Y Gyrn Base Camp - Official Photo!

Lunch stop at Sgwd-yr-Eira waterfalls

Path down from Corn Du

Peaty pond near the obelisk; Corn Du

Naomi flipping lamburgers on the barbecue back at basecamp

National Trust training on the essential conservation skill of 'leaning on a spade and chatting'

The finished fence, gate and stile from the outside

The finished fence, gate and stile from the inside

Mallard's nest on the Dorn

Jim hauls cut material to the bonfire

Passers-by beware!

On a clear day, the view is spectacular...

Bonfire - plus rainbow!

All the old headstones are leaning at interesting angles

Michelle sneaks up behind Peter with loppers - fancy a haircut Peter?

Swarms of scrub bashers

Lunch break

"Friend of Watlington Hill"

Andy makes cordwood

Lovely warming bonfire (one of two)

The morning cuppa....

Tea time

Lunch break

After a hard days work

Mick's shiny new storm kettle

Volunteers survey their handiwork as the bonfire dies down

Conversation and drinks in the Turf

Mike makes a guest appearance

Dead-hedge deer-deterrant

Hazel stakes harvested for hedgelaying

Cordwood stack

This poor tree didn't stand a chance...

A woolly captive

Miranda brandishing stock spray

Local flock penned for hoof clipping

Surveying the days work, the last task of 2007.

A nice cup of tea.

Looks like someone decided to recycle an old 70's shower curtain.

This treestump was in a dangerous position and needed to be removed using some OCV muscle

A fine specimen

Before starting work, we herded the sheep into a different field

Cutting to the cores

Jamie demonstrates pleaching technique

Britwell Salome hedge starting view

Bonfire building

Coppicing

Tree with twisty vine growing into it

Teamwork

Fen raking in the sunshine

Hook Norton Cutting Crew

Beating those Brambles

Hedgelaying work half complete

Young woodland of the new century

Camp

Camp

Camp fire

Back at base, improvised table tennis

Job Done

Walling

Walling at Durlston

Site when we arrived

Footpath section as we found it.

Steps built today

Footpath section as we left it.

Third fence section, unfinished due to lack of materials.

Post and rail under construction.

Hybrid fence, as we left it.

Completed gate 2

Completed gate 1

Boundary Brook pond

Broadening the path

As featured in the Hanborough Herald!

Path to Church Hanborough

Climbing up the Craig Cerrig - it was actually sunny (for a while)

Out for a walk on our free day

We had great views on our free day.

Crossing a bridge to get to our work site - the previous one collapsed!

Second work site

Rob, the National Trust warden

The badger, of course

Our fearless task programmer

Westward view

Cowslips & Forget-me-nots

North path before

Teamwork on the bowsaw

Fencing with locally-cut material

Crecy Nature Reserve path

Crecy reserve from the top

How many OCVers does it take to build a stile?

Is that Jamie behind those twigs? No point in hiding from us. We will ALWAYS find you.

All we need is a guitar

Trees

I see the light!

An example Cotswold Pennycress (by Plantlife's consultant Judy Hart)

A vision of a fence. Top dollar.

Sheep graze the coarse grass, leaving the dreaded blackthorn for OCV!

The finishing touches for the fence.

Standing around the fire

Cathy and a sheep

Before we started

The stakes are then bound together

Group Photo

Before the gate went in.

The finished product.

Sitting down for lunch

The view towards Oxford

Puting the finished product in bags

The river estuary

Mick gets stuck in

Where were we yesterday?

Controlling the reed growth to create some open water

Harry the horse

Domino