The one where drowned rats were probably drier

Ever the optimists, 6 GoodGymers disregarded the 90% chance of rain in the weather forecast and turned up to Boundary Brook Nature Park ready to reprofile the pond.

You know the old saying "rain doesn't fall on the good"? Well, either we've been bad or it's not true! There were moments of hysteria as the rain got heavier every time Ruth declared it was easing off, and the afternoon began to look less like a GoodGym task and more like a wet Tshirt competition.

Nonetheless, we worked hard at the task in hand: clearing brambles and other vegetation from the area round the pond so that it can be re-profiled, and making a small start on the digging work to reshape it. The pond currently has steep sides, which aren't ideal for encouraging wildlife, so the idea is to dig out the edges to extend the pond and create a gentle slope into it. This will create a new habitat, likely to be good for newts. The newts are largely land-dwellers at this time of year, so the rush is on to get the pond ready for them to take to the water later in the year. To further encourage the amphibians we added the soil to the top of a nearby pile of twigs and branches to create a hibernaculum.

Our Wednesday crew will dig in where we left off today.