The start of August saw us preparing for the Gower Show with volunteers helping us man the marquee on the day – selling teas and cakes and making badges with the kids. It was a successful day and the rain held off until the very last!

The Saturday group rose to the mammoth task of clearing ragwort from Pennard Cliffs. We cleared a huge area filling 85 bags.

There was also plenty of ragwort to be pulled from the Warren at Rhossili. This year it has really been prolific – unfortunately the summer(!) weather seems to have assisted its growth.

August also saw us clearing bracken from The Bulwark and Old Castle Camp – two iron age hillforts. We clear the bracken from them to protect these Scheduled Ancient Monuments.

We had 8 volunteers from Barclays come out for two days as part of the Employee Volunteering Programme. They learnt the skills of dry stone walling and repaired an 8 metre section of the 6 miles(!) of wall between Rhossili and Port Eynon.

I also spent some days with Mark Barber from ARC (Amphibians and Reptile Conservation) putting out refugia in various sites around Gower to survey these fascinating creatures. We will be looking for volunteers in the spring to assist us surveying the refugia, so if you are interested then contact me!

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We had 3 pupils from Bishopston Comprehensive School join us for their work experience. They got stuck in alongside our regular volunteers clearing bracken from Sweynes Howes (burial chambers on Rhossili Down). They also repaired gates on the Warren, and did some ragwort pulling. They joined me on the Thursday at Morriston Golf Club where I was giving a talk to the Morriston Probus Club. They went home on the Friday rather tired and muddy after digging out a ditch on Llanrhidian Marsh – having put in a great effort all week.

We had an excellent reptile and amphibian training course from Mark Barber of the ARC Trust. Volunteers and staff learnt lots about these wonderful creatures. We then put out some refugia around Whiteford which the volunteers are going to survey for us.

With the weather improving as the month went on we had a litterpick on Rhossili Beach with a group from Kick Start – a learning and employment programme led by the local council. We managed to fill a trailer load full of litter, both land and sea borne.

The last week of July brought the summer and 5 new volunteers. We spent the week on the Warren at Rhossili clearing bracken and ragwort, and repairing gates and fences. The sea looked really inviting but the tide was just too far out for a quick dip at lunchtime. Maybe next week if the weather holds….

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