The battleground - war on brambles!

Well, I emerged bloodied but victorious! Last year (14th June)I blipped a photo showing how much the bramble had taken over this Buddleia bush - lovely flowers and all that - but still a nuisance. In August (14th and 18th) Sophie and Mystic enjoyed picking and eating the blackberries - but they won't get any in the garden this year. I started off just cutting the new shoots back but then decided to go for total removal - as far as possible, cannot dig it up as it starts the other side of the fence and has put down some thick roots under the bush too. Eventually I got as much as I could - down to the ground - and the chopped up cuttings filled a wheelie bin. The thorns were vicious - drawing blood when the branches wrapped round my legs and penetrated my gloves too - but no blood transfusion needed - the shower stung a bit, but only slight scratches to see now. The Buddleia looks a bit sparse now, but will soon fill out when the new shoots get going.