# Chipping Norton Green Gym

> Volunteers working for the environment


## Posts

- [JANUARY PROGRAMME CHANGE](https://chippygreengym.org/january-programme-changes/): Due to the snowy conditions making access difficult, the session due to take place at the Glyme Valley Reserve on January 7th has been postponed until the 14th. &nbsp;
- [Apple Day 2025](https://chippygreengym.org/apple-day-28th-september/): Apple Day, held at the Community Orchard, on 28th September, was a great success. Importantly, following a period of showery days the weather remained dry, with some pleasantly warm sunshine. A large number of visitors of all ages enjoyed watching and helping with the juicing of apples, some from orchard trees and some brought by people from their own trees. The Charlbury and Finstock Morris Dancers entertained and the walking stick maker and the wood carver attracted interest, while children had fun with activities provided for them, including decorating paper cubes prepared by an expert in origami. As always, the [&hellip;]
- [Upcoming Saturday work sessions](https://chippygreengym.org/saturday-work-sessions/): We realise that there may be people who would like to join Green Gym or at least try it out, but cannot attend on a Wednesday, typically for work reasons. We are therefore trialling monthly work sessions on a Saturday (generally the first in the month), from 10 a.m. to 1 pm, with a break at 11.30. These are included in the relevant bi-monthly programme. The next session will take place on Saturday February 7th, at the Community Orchard, with Heather as leader. Details of work planned will be posted here as they become available. For further general information on [&hellip;]
- [Putting the elms back in Elmsfield](https://chippygreengym.org/putting-the-elms-back-in-elmsfield/): Since its appearance in the U.K. in the late 1960s, the now infamous Dutch elm disease has killed millions of elm trees here over the last 50 years. It has changed parts of our landscape forever and is still spreading north. However, thanks to the painstaking breeding of hybrids, there now exist varieties with noted similarity to the lost English elms  (ulmus procera) but which are, it is claimed, completely resistant to the disease. Although there still exist surviving mature elm trees in Britain, they have all vanished from Chipping Norton, and are remembered only in the local name Elmsfield. [&hellip;]
- [Blossom Day 2025](https://chippygreengym.org/blossom-day-2025/): The annual Blossom Day festival will take place on Sunday May 11th, from 12 to 3, at the Chipping Norton Community Orchard. Admission is free and all are welcome. Parking space is limited &#8211; please come on foot if at all possible. For details on how to get there, parking, and a map of the location, see here. &nbsp;

## Pages

- [Posts](https://chippygreengym.org/latest-news/)
- [Gallery](https://chippygreengym.org/gallery/): The photograph at the head of the page pictures a group of members past and present. Raising the profile At the invitation of Chipping Norton Health Centre, for several years we have prepared  short photographic presentations or advertisements based on Powerpoint presentations and using eight slides. The advertisement is shown on the screens in the patients&#8217; waiting areas. Here are the ads in pdf format. They are best viewed in full screen mode, using the space bar, forward arrow, or an equivalent, to move to the next slide. Version 1    Version 2    Version 3    Version 4    [&hellip;]
- [Other Sites](https://chippygreengym.org/other-sites/): Above: repairing a dry stone wall at Swerford Although most of our work is carried out at different sites in Chipping Norton itself, since the group was founded in 2012, we have volunteered at a considerable number of places outside the town. &#8211; In the park off Browning Road, Banbury, we dug holes for tree planting and helped plant up the trees. &#8211; On the farm at Bloxham School, we did some coppicing and hedge-laying and prepared ground for tree planting. &#8211; In Charlbury, we were asked to tidy up the borders at the local school (and within Chipping Norton, similar work [&hellip;]
- [Southill Solar Farm](https://chippygreengym.org/southill-solar-farm/): Southill is a community-owned Solar Farm providing electricity to over 1,000 homes in nearby Charlbury and its proximity. The whole site covers  45 acres of land, of which 20 are used for solar panels. Over a large part of the rest there are wildflower meadows, created since the acquisition of the site, as well as a fruit orchard planted from scratch, and a large pond. Green Gym assist by working mainly in the meadows and the orchard, which skylarks, hares and Roman snails call home. We remove unwanted invasive weeds such as burdock and thistle, scythe the orchard, and deal [&hellip;]
- [Links](https://chippygreengym.org/links/): Here is an ongoing list of useful links to the websites of organisations, individual web pages and to both public and “in-house” reference documents. They are relevant to actual work carried out by our group and members&#8217; suggestions for additions are welcome. Bees For a fascinating, detailed and beautifully illustrated view of the “Wonderful World of Bees”, visit buzzaboutbees.net.  If you would like to try a short quiz based on information given in the pages of the website, click here. Here are three more related links: Make your garden bee-friendly     About bumblebees        Bees learn fast [&hellip;]
- [Glyme Valley Nature Reserve](https://chippygreengym.org/glyme-valley-nature-reserve/): We are one of the groups of volunteers who work at the Glyme Valley Nature Reserve  in Chipping Norton, which is managed by the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust. The trust is known locally as BBOWT (&#8220;bee-bout&#8221;). Here, our clearance of invasive blackthorn scrub invading the ancient limestone grassland aims to benefit butterflies and flowers, while the dense thorn bushes lining the margins of the reserve remain as a birdlife habitat where species such as blackcap, bullfinch and yellowhammer can be seen. During our work we often use tarpaulins to collect up cut material, making it easier to move [&hellip;]
- [St Mary's Churchyard](https://chippygreengym.org/st-marys-churchyard/): The Green Gym&#8217;s work in the churchyard of the Parish Church of Chipping Norton includes removing ivy and bramble from walls and gravestones and clearance around graves and in other areas, particularly around some of the ancient yews. We have replanted some of the many snowdrops in the churchard, to spread them about. They make a marvellous sight, marking the approach of Spring. &nbsp;
- [Hawkyard Copse and Common](https://chippygreengym.org/hawkyard-copse-and-common/): Chipping Norton is fortunate in having retained much of its ancient common land, while in many places this has been lost for ever. With the help and support of the Field Reeves, entrusted since medieval times with the stewardship of the people’s commons, Chipping Norton Green Gym have been instrumental in recent years in helping to increase and manage woodland areas on  that land. Notably, this has been through the creation of  Fitzalan Wood and the Community Orchard, tree planting at the William Fowler Memorial Wood, and since 2020,  work on an area of former grassland and scrub at the [&hellip;]
- [William Fowler Memorial Wood](https://chippygreengym.org/william-fowler-wood/): Above, blooms onsite: mayflower (hawthorn), bee orchid, apple blossom, pyramidal orchid, cowslips. In 1892 a 23.5 acre (9.5 hectare) field called the Picked Close or Long Ground was given to the town of Chipping Norton by former resident Mr William Fowler, then living in South Australia. The field was to be let as working men’s allotments of ¼ acre each. A century on, the allotment land, which adjoins Glyme Lane close to Chipping Norton School, was underused. Then, in the winter of 2001-2, to mark the start of a new millennium, seven acres (3 ha) of it were planted up [&hellip;]
- [Health Centre](https://chippygreengym.org/health-centre/): An ongoing Green Gym project begun in 2016  has involved the creation and maintenance of flower and vegetable beds at Chipping Norton Health Centre. We are pleased to be cooperating with the Centre in enhancing the appearance of areas which greet users and staff, keeping fit as we work to help preserve increasingly threatened fauna and to encourage healthy eating. A bumblebee-friendly flower bed Of the two dozen types of bumblebee in the U.K., eight are commonly found here in Oxfordshire.  Most of the UK species have declined greatly in recent years; two more have become extinct since the 1940s. [&hellip;]
- [Pool Meadow and The Common](https://chippygreengym.org/pool-meadow-and-common/): Pool Meadow, pictured above, adjoins that part of the Common which lies next to the Worcester road and below the children’s playground. The former pool was reportedly a source of fish for the nearby castle, of which only earthworks remain, while in later times the water was used by the nearby Bliss tweed mill, now closed. Sadly, it is today choked with horsetail, which is almost impossible to eradicate. Horsetails can be considered living fossils. This group of plants is what is left of a group of plants that were as thick as forests and had relatives as big as [&hellip;]
- [Fitzalan Wood](https://chippygreengym.org/work-sites/fitzalan-wood/): We invite you to come and enjoy Chipping Norton&#8217;s Fitzalan Wood, at the top of Station Road, whether as a volunteer or  a visitor. Please note that firewood in the log store near the entrance is free to take away; typically there will be a mixture of seasoned and unseasoned wood. We ask users to consider making a donation to a favourite charity or other good cause, in return for any wood taken. Scroll down to see the Wood’s timeline in words and pictures …. This wood in Chipping Norton was created on a one-acre piece of the common land, [&hellip;]
- [Admin](https://chippygreengym.org/admin/): This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password:
- [Health and Safety](https://chippygreengym.org/health-and-safety/): Our Policy Everyone who attends Chipping Norton Green Gym is expected to act in a responsible manner, especially where the health and safety and well-being of members and any visitors to our work sites are concerned. All our work-party tasks are suitable for volunteers.  New volunteers will be shown how to use tools and equipment, effectively and safely, including PPE (personal protective equipment) . A risk assessment is carried out before each task and leaders will pass on details of any relevant site hazards. We take a first­‑aid kit to all sites, and currently about one in four members are qualified [&hellip;]
- [Contacts](https://chippygreengym.org/contacts/): Above: Trees on the Hook Norton road getting in touch. Secretary:    Heather Leonard &#8211; rheatherleonard@yahoo.co.uk or tel. 01608 643691. For general administrative enquiries. Membership Secretary:    Rachel McCubbin &#8211; rmccubbin33@gmail.com For enquiries about membership or to advise of a proposed visit to a work session. Also, please contact Rachel if your firm has a Corporate Social Responsibility or community service scheme and you think you could assist us in some way. Programme Manager:       Tony Shaw-Williams &#8211; tony1502sw@gmail.com Contact him if you manage a community site which could do with our help. Community Orchard enquiries:   please get in touch with Heather Leonard, as [&hellip;]
- [Chipping Norton Community Orchard](https://chippygreengym.org/work-sites/chipping-norton-community-orchard/): Chipping Norton Community Orchard is managed by the Orchard Management Committee and maintained by the Green Gym, and is open to the public at all times. All are invited to visit and stroll among the trees, or make use of one of the several picnic tables and benches provided, simply to sit for a while in this peaceful spot. In Spring, there is the blossom to enjoy, and on hot days the trees provide welcome shade. Annual highlights are two events held there on a Sunday – Blossom Day and Apple Day. Blossom Day has generally been in May, but [&hellip;]
- [Work sites](https://chippygreengym.org/work-sites/): Above: A volunteer in woodland on Hawkyard Common. Sadly, due to its condition, the giant chestnut tree shown had to be felled in July 2025. The Chippy Green Gym works at a variety of different work sites, listed below.  Unless otherwise specified, the site is in Chipping Norton. Listed locations have a dedicated web page, linked to from this page. In addition, we have worked at the Highlands Day Centre and St Mary&#8217;s Primary School, and planted trees in town at Cornish Road and alongside the drive to Elmsfield Farm, which also leads to the Community Orchard. Chipping Norton Community Orchard [&hellip;]
- [Programme](https://chippygreengym.org/programme/): Above: Community Orchard apple blossom PROGRAMME CHANGE on Jan 14th Due to the snowy conditions, the session originally due to take place at the Glyme Valley Reserve on January 7th has been postponed until the 14th, with Simon as leader. This change appears in the updated programme available below. Note re Wednesdays with “split sessions” (when we plan to work at more than one site): In these cases it is very helpful if, whenever possible, you let the leader of your chosen option know in advance that all being well you plan to join their group on the day. Programme 81 [&hellip;]
- [Home](https://chippygreengym.org/): Latest post(s):  JANUARY 14th &#8211; PROGRAMME CHANGE           Upcoming Saturday sessions Hello and welcome to the website of Chipping Norton Green Gym. We are an independent community group that works on environmental conservation projects in Chipping Norton and the surrounding area. The town itself lies on the edge of the  Cotswolds National Landscape area, the largest of the designated National Landscapes in the UK. We are privileged to work in such a beautiful natural environment; the photograph above pictures rolling fields near the town. As shown on our programme, we currently meet every Wednesday from 10 a.m. [&hellip;]


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