Scythe-seeing on the Bath Skyline walk!

Last night we were asked to run to the Nuttery in Smallcombe Vale to scythe the long grass and do some tree maintenance. There were 8 of us in our group and we managed to do a huge amount of work! We enjoyed doing some volunteering and getting some exercise on a beautiful June evening.

We met at leisure centre in town and welcomed a new runner, Nicola, to our group. Thanks for coming along last night to help us out! I hope you had fun and that we will see you again!

I shared the latest news with the group. In the monthly pub quiz at St James Wine Vaults the group came in the top third and had a really fun evening. We will be back next month to test our brain power!

Over the weekend we had lots of GoodGym events going on, including two Community Missions and a Mission.

If you are free this weekend coming up then there are two Community Missions that we have been asked to help with. We are painting shelves at a library in Moorland Road and helping at the Saltford Community Festival. This is another fantastic way to help develop our community and get some exercise at the same time!

Across the fields we go!

We ran along the canal and through Bathwick fields. We paused to enjoy a beautiful evening view over our beautiful city.

We have been to the nuttery before and we were pleased to see our hosts again. As part of the network of community gardens we have worked with them several times before in other places across Bath. Tonight we had two main tasks ahead of us.

What a scythe to behold!

Firstly, we had to cut back the overgrown grass. Over the past few months the grass has gone wild and is now waist-high which makes it hard to manage the trees. Keith showed us how to use a scythe to cut the grass. The Austrian scythes are adjustable, but they are around 5ft in height and they have a wicked curved blade on them.

Keith also demonstrated the most effective technique. We made sure to engage our core, breath in and out as we went back and forth and let the scythe do the hard work for us. We all felt the effects of this outdoors workout in our arms and our stomach muscles afterwards! What a great way to get fit and do good!

No Cow-ards here!

What has been cut must be moved, so we had to regularly drag the bags of cut grass to be tipped into the compost area. We also fed some to the curious cows that came over to say hello. These cows live in the fields managed by the National Trust. Maybe next time we can get them to come and help us volunteer so they can earn a good deed!

Tree-iffic work!

The other task was to remove wire fencing that surrounded the trees using wire cutters. The fencing was put up when the trees were very young to stop rabbits and other animals chomping away at them. Now the trees are older the new growth is all in the upper branches, so the fences aren't needed any more.

It was tricker than it first appeared as the trees has started to grow in the gaps in the fencing and had tangled themselves in it. We had to take care to extricate them without damaging them. Delicate hands and patience were needed in plentiful supply here!

Damson gin for the win!

We packed up our tools and, as as reward for our hard work and effort, were offered some refreshments. The refreshments were created by the volunteering network from sibling projects in Bath. To quench our thirst, we were offered some apple juice and some homemade cider made from the harvest in local orchards last year. We also had a nip of homemade damson gin. It was fiery but incredibly tasty, and the perfect antidote for sore muscles!

Volunteering, that's nut a bad idea!

This task was a lot of fun and time seemed to fly by quickly! Hopefully we will be back later in the year to help with the harvesting of the tasty nuts that are grown there.

Upcoming runs:

• On Saturday 8th June there is a Community Mission to paint the children's section at Moorland Road Library
• On Saturday 8th June there is also a chance to help out at the Saltford Summer Festival
• Next week Emma and Alison are leading the run to clean toys used by the toddler group at Oldfield Baptist church