Going Back to Our Roots - Bramble Bashing at Horsenden Farm !!

It may not have been a sunny day today but at least the rain held off and so it was that GoodGym and Brompton Bicycles teamed up once again to take a new cohort of new-starters off for a bit of getting fit while doing good!

The group was of an intimate size this time round with 3 eager and willing volunteers along with AA Yianny back for another session. Adam, Dilara and Byron were ready and waiting with bikes at the ready and we were off for a scenic ride down the canal from Brompton HQ to Horsenden Farm - which we all know is the home of the famous Gruffalo....

Alongside the Gruffalo and all his companions Horsenden Farm has some lovely cows (good friends of ours by now) and those cows are going to be set to graze on a reclaimed meadow on the hill, but in order to do that the team at the farm need to clear it from the trees and brambles that have taken over. That's where we came in. Our job was chop, lop, saw, rake & gather all of the wood and bring it over to build a 'dead hedge'. The natural hedge will not only help to keep the cows safely within their pasture but also provide a perfect and ginormous bug and wildlife hotel.

And so we had a solid 90 minutes of hard work ahead of us but also a nice chance to chat with such a small and committed group.

Take a look at the photos (photogenic bunch these Brompton folk!) to see the hedge growing throughout the task.

At the end of our time we dropped off our Wellies - so glad to have those - and our gloves and cycled back the other way back to base in time for lunch.

Thank you so much Adam, Dilara and Byron for helping out, Elsa from the farm was delighted, and see you next month Brompton.

For more information about GoodGym and to get involved visit our website www.goodgym.org