The aim of this visit is to widen this corridor by pushing the scrub line back up the slope. The scrub here forms a wall of vegetation, a dense thicket of mostly spindly and interwoven hawthorn and dog rose, with long climbing tendrils covered in vicious thorns, all tied together with trailing ivy and rope-like wild clematis. Some are so inexorably tied together that a number of stems have to be felled all together as it is impossible to separate one from the others. On the other hand, some of the stems are so rotten that they just snap off or can be pushed over, meaning that small areas can be suddenly cleared by more or less waving your arms around to smash down the dry and dead stems. And in amongst this are the occasional blackthorn, yew, holly and ash thrown in for good measure and even a few larger multi-stem whitebeam, which provide bit more a challenge for the bow-saw, whilst providing welcome relief from being attacked by thorns.
However, adders are not the only residents of Long Hill. One of the volunteers discovers a ground nest, which from the squeaks is inhabited, possibly by a shrew but as it never puts in an appearance this is only a guess. Its location is marked with tape to ensure that it isn't accidentally destroyed.