More people are wrapping themselves in warm, weatherproof clothes and slipping their feet into wellies or stout boots to volunteer for conservation jobs in the ancient Wychwood Forest of west Oxfordshire.

Two years ago a group called Wychwood V — v for volunteer — for young people aged 16 to 25 was launched by project officer Jane Bowley, of the Wychwood Project.

Jobs tackled have included clearing footpaths, planting trees beside the River Windrush, fencing, and pulling up invasive and unwanted weeds.

Volunteering has the added advantage of not only doing a worthwhile job for the environment, but also of earning a reference to go on college or university applications.

In addition, another group for young people was started last summer for students attending Abingdon and Witney College.

They tackle similar tasks on alternate Tuesdays in term time.

But while young people in education and starting out in jobs were well catered for, Jane wanted to reach out to a more general section of people living in west Oxfordshire.

So she recently started up the Wychwood CAT — con servation action team.

“The idea was to attract all-comers of any age. For example at our February gathering we had people aged from nine to one man who was aged 70-plus,” said Jane.

Wychwood CAT meets on the first Saturday of the month from 10am to 1pm.

“At first we were meeting from 10am to 3pm but we found this was a bit too long. So now we meet from 10am to 1pm.

“We also make these meetings more social than just doing a job. So we take a break about halfway through for tea or coffee and cake and biscuits.

“Sometimes I have been known to bake the cakes, though mostly a shop in Woodstock does well out of us.

“People seem to like taking a break and having a chance to socialise,” said Jane.

One of the major tasks undertaken so far was to plant 263 trees near Stratfield Brake in the Gosford/Kidlington area.

This was part of a national drive to plant a lot of trees in one day.

For this the Wychwood CAT were joined by members of the Wychood V as some of the lads did some preparatory work by digging many holes the day before in readiness for the tree planting.

“We managed around 150 on the one day and the remainder were planted later,” said Jane.

The tree planting was carried out with advice from David Rees, the Oxfordshire woodland development officer.

CAT volunteers have also lined up the task of planting about 180m of hedgerow in Finstock and have also cleared a footpath at Wilcote, near Finstock.

Another task has been to clear out unwanted vegetation that had grown up around young trees that were planted earlier.

“The vegetation had shot up so much that you could hardly see the young trees,” said Jane.

Jobs are undertaken by all groups, usually in locations where their work can be seen by the public, such as the footpath clearing.

“We have done some work for parish councils, but we cannot undertake major work,” said Jane. Many of the volunteers come from the Friends of Wychwood, which has about 700 members drawn from people living in or who are interested in the ancient royal hunting forest of Wychwood.

Originally, the forest covered much of what is now the area of West Oxfordshire District Council. The forest then stretched from the Gloucestershire boundary to take in Chipping Norton, Enstone, Charlbury, Woodstock and Northmoor and Burford and skirted round Witney.

The Friends of Wychwood and the district council are among the contributors of funds to the Wychwood Project.

The Wychwood Project aims to encourage people to take an interest in and benefit from the restoration, conservation and enhancement of the area.

Jane is the project officer and Nick Mottram is the project director, while Liz Brandom volunteers to do some of the administration jobs.

Recently, the Friends and the Project reached a milestone, when nine hectares or 22 acres of farmland was acquired to create a community wood.

The land at Southdown Farm between Witney and the village of Hailey is used for cattle grazing, but will be developed for the benefit of wildlife and the community.

A stream runs through the site and there is a network of established hedges.

Members of the Friends and the general public will help in the design of the wood.

And obviously it will become a source of jobs for the various volunteer groups.

In the autumn the annual Wychwood Forest Fair — a major source of income — is being held on Sunday, September 5, possibly on the new wood site.

l For more information on the volunteer groups telephone 01993 814131.