Photo Gallery

Climbing Mount Fog

At the summit

Inigo flying his kite

Going to the pub

More juncus plantations

Great photo where no-one is looking

Happy path-maintainers at lunchtime

Lunch time

Lunch time

Scrub clearance

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

Last winter's fire site, now colonised by bright green moss

Firewood from coppicing

Building a cordwood stack

View from the Folly

After siding-up

The hedge at the end of the day

One down....

A perfect cut - expert tree-felling

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

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

Ready for work. Now where did those tools go?

Finishing the gate and dead-hedge

Round the bonfire after a good days work

The pine candle was more popular than the camp fire!

Setting up

Well earned lunch break

All members as welcome, Pippa included

Sand drawing - which species of tree is this?

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

Happy wallers

Pouring the tea

Looking down the fenceline to the sea

Fencing posts

tea break

Packing up after a good day's work

Inigo in the sunshine

The Tackley Heath Pond

Starting work

Tea time

Newly created habitat pile

Pollarding

Pollarding completed

Putting in uprights for new platform

Newly extended ponds ready for the wildlife to move in

Pond creation

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

Recent addition to Aston Rowant livestock

The queue for free pedicures grows as word gets out

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

Entrance to the wood

Carrying the tubes that have been removed

How many OCVers does it take to build a stile?

Completed stile

The reason this is important

Tools of the trade

Volunteers keen to start

Starting a post hole

Post-bashing

Finishing off

Revetments ahoy!

Group photo on the finished boardwalk (don't forget to wipe your feet)

Preparing revetments

Sgwd-yr-Eira waterfall

Completed stone pitched culvert

Barbeque time

Some of the rubbish we collected

Habitat pile

A fine bonfire

Fen after clearing

Tea-making

Wetland after clearing

Cutting back the smaller dogwood

Warming bonfire

At work on the quarry site

Embers of the fire

Tea-making

Mutual support?

Skating makes your eyes go funny!

Kate is amazed at how ingenious brambles really are!

There's nothing left!

The results of an enthusiastic day of slashing, sawing and burning!

The council trailer fully loaded with rubbish and ready to go

Catherine from the Friends of the Trap Grounds

Tools talk

Craig, our expert fire builder!

More fire...

Completed section of hedge

Putting the finishing touches to the hedge

Counting tree rings

Santa's little helper

The weather was glorious

Starting work

Habitat pile made from wood moved off the flood plain

Cutting back the undergrowth to make way for fritillaries

The joy of Gripples

Packing up behind the completed fence

More happy volunteers

Gentian

Tea break

Before our work

Monkey strainers in all their glory

Chris and Jo preparing to strain wire

The end of a netting wire

Swanage Bay

Barbecue on the beach, Saturday night.

Naomi in front of the wall before we started work

New post positioned by string line

Straining post complete, ready for wire.

Pro-fencing team work on new straining post!

Tea break

Grass has been cut

Fighting their way through the grass

Starting to build the chestnut fence

A bit of planing and chiselling

Dismantling the old fence

Foxglove

Devil's-bit Scabious

Pyramidal Orchid

View out across the Vale of Aylesbury

We whittled our own pitchforks from the native brush...

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

Line-wire straining the posts; stock netting laid out and ready to staple up and complete the barrier

Yellow Rattle

At the Storey Arms after a day's culvert clearing

Working our way down Corn Du for lunch at the obelisk

Human JCBs! - digging out drainage ditch and backfilling spoil on to the trail

Descent back down from worksite to basecamp

View south down valley from top of Pen Y Fan

Mallard's nest on the Dorn

You don't wanna do it like that...

Fence and gate construction

Passers-by beware!

Andy provides a cheesy grin

Clearing the fenceline ready for replacement fencing

Bonfire - plus rainbow!

All the old headstones are leaning at interesting angles

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

Lunch break

Swarms of scrub bashers

"Friend of Watlington Hill"

Lovely warming bonfire (one of two)

Chris stacks logs to form a habitat pile

Pointing stakes

Tea time

Bonfire "B" was even bigger

Before

Mick's shiny new storm kettle

Cutting & collecting

The bonfire raged...

Brambles and ivy cleared from the headstones needed to be burnt

Conversation and drinks in the Turf

Mike makes a guest appearance

Cordwood stack

Dead-hedge deer-deterrant

Hazel stakes harvested for hedgelaying

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

Local flock penned for hoof clipping

2 folk and a sheep

Flock released after clipping

A nice cup of tea.

Surveying the days work, the last task of 2007.

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

A fine specimen

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

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

Britwell Salome hedge starting view

Completed hedge section ready to regrow.

Cutting to the cores

Bonfire building

Tree with twisty vine growing into it

Coppicing

Fen raking in the sunshine

Teamwork

Hook Norton Cutting Crew

Clearing the slope for wildflowers

Beating those Brambles

Young woodland of the new century

Hedgelaying work half complete

Camp

Camp fire

Camp

Job Done

Durlston

After work

Walling

Site when we arrived

Footpath section as we left it.

Footpath section as we found it.

New talent on the job

Post and rail under construction.

Old fence as we found it.

Second fence section

First post

Completed gate 1

Boundary Brook bird feeder

As featured in the Hanborough Herald!

Broadening the path

Path to Church Hanborough

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

We had great views on our free day.

Out for a walk on our free day

Anyone for Chess?

OCV and the National Trust show their undying loyalty to Queen & Country

Our fearless task programmer

Dinner at base camp

Rob, the National Trust warden

North path before

North path after

Cowslips & Forget-me-nots

Fencing with locally-cut material

Teamwork on the bowsaw

Crecy footpath at the point of completion

Crecy reserve from the top

Crecy Nature Reserve path

How many OCVers does it take to build a stile?

Trees

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

All we need is a guitar

I see the light!

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

A vision of a fence. Top dollar.

Look, one of the worzels has escaped from the asylum

Giant wheel barrows

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

Cathy and a sheep

Collecting the sheep for tagging them

The stakes are then bound together

Jerome demonstrates hedgelaying

Group Photo

Before the gate went in.

The finished product.

Sitting down for lunch

The view towards Oxford

Loading the kiln with logs

Mick gets stuck in

Lunch by the river (day off)

Saturday afternoon - down the pub

Controlling the reed growth to create some open water

Harry the horse

Domino