GoodGym Huddersfield have a hole lot of fun in the woods

Five people with head torches digging holes in Bradley Gate woods certainly attracted some interest last night. During our 45 minute task, a group of mountain bikers, a local dog walker and a slightly inebriated man all came over to find out what we were doing. Perhaps they suspected we were digging a hole for a dead body under the cover of darkness, like in a gangster movie? However in reality we were doing something far more useful, and certainly less gruesome.

Just four GoodGymmers met at the Stadium for this week's run and task. In addition to 100 percenter attenders Chris Green and Ben Godfrey, we were joined by first time GoodGymmer Heather Wilshaw Jones. As ever it was great to welcome a new person to the group, and Heather had certainly picked a good night for her first GoodGym experience.

It was windy but warm as we ran along the canal towpath towards our task, crunching through the autumnal leaf fall. A sharp little climb up through Riddings Wood and then 600 metres of road running had us all well warmed up and ready for some manual labour. As we approached Bradley Gate Woods we could see the head torch of Dan Isley from Woodscape arriving on his little red tractor.

Woodscape are the community organisation who look after the woods, putting in paths, building fences, managing the woodland and generally ensuring the area is safe and pleasant for local people to use. When I first approached Dan about GoodGym helping out in the woods he was only too happy to find us a suitable task, although I think he was perhaps a little taken aback by the idea of doing it on a Tuesday night in the dark!

But what a great task (and tough) task Dan found for us! Over the years some of the fence posts from the wood's perimeter fence have become rotten and wobbly. GoodGym's task for the night would be to dig some holes into which new posts would be set. These weren't to be little holes either, to ensure the new fence posts were secure these holes needed to be about 12 inches square and about 3 feet deep.

Fortunately Dan had brought with him all manner of tools to make the job easier. As well as the usual spades, we had a giant corkscrew, sturdy metal bars to lever out rocks, and a huge set of hinged spoons to scoop out loose earth as our holes got deeper. GoodGymmers always like tasks tasks with tools, and I could see some people getting quite excited at the prospect of getting stuck in with these interesting implements.

So the challenge was on! We had 45 minutes to each dig as deep and as square of a hole as we could manage. A little competition often goes a long way with GoodGymmers, and we were all soon working away with a bit of welcome guidance from Dan. Given the lack of recent rain the ground was hard, and as we dug deeper, we needed to dig deep physically. This task was certainly no walk in the woods!

My hole was going well and I was feeling quite proud of my efforts, nice and square and getting on for two feet deep. Then the aforementioned slightly inebriated man appeared. After ascertaining we were not up to no good, he proceeded to take my spade and demonstrate how he'd been taught to dig holes in the army. I'm not sure how effective his technique was, but it gave me two minutes rest anyway.

Time up and it was down to Dan to measure the depth of our holes. After some deliberation and debate it was decided to declare the inaugural GoodGym Huddersfield hole digging contest a tie!

Job done and a (hole) lotta fun had we bade farewell to Dan and headed back to the Stadium. There was just enough time (and energy) left for a detour to Leeds Road Playing Fields and a quick workout on the outdoor fitness equipment.

Another week and another good job done by GoodGym Huddersfield. Thanks to Dan from Woodscape for being a top task setter, and of course also everyone who took part. I hope you all dug the task as much as I did!