Logging off for the day

This evening's group run saw us returning to the lovely Braywick Nature reserve for our annual firewood sawing session. We met at Homebase for our briefing and then headed into the dark of the Green Way. Thanks to Sheila for leading walkers Clara, Anita and Steve on their 1km route. Sophie, Jess, Jack and I ran the same route, but made it over 2km by using the walkers as a marker to run ever decreasing intervals back and forth along the way.

We met Diya and Kanika and gathered tools at the Nature Centre, then headed to the lower woodland classroom for our task. The word classroom might have you thinking of desks and a chalk board, but this fantastic outdoor space has woodland, benches round a camp fire and a wood store - perfect for fuelling children's minds. One popular activity is den building; another is the camp-fire, and the centre have got into a neat rhythm of using last year's den building poles as this year's firewood. Lucky for us, this means we get a great workout every Spring sawing up the long poles.

When we were planning this task for the first time two years ago, task owner Alistair explained why camp-fires are an important part of the immersive experience the Nature Centre offers:

Bush-craft is not about pushing ourselves to 'survive' nature, it is about finding ways to be comfortable in nature, to appreciate it and enjoy it. Fire is one of our oldest technologies and is uniquely used by humans in the animal kingdom. There is something primal and powerful about gazing into a camp-fire and connecting with other people around it.

We may not have lit the camp fire this evening, but we certainly had fun and felt connected with each other in this space. Memorable moments include:

• Getting our teeth into the task
• A message from task owner Alistair letting us know that the logs would be used by two school groups and a cub scout group the next day - it was great to know that our work wood have such immediate impact
• A bit of pole dancing to keep us warm
• Learning how big 12 inches really is
• When Kanika, Clara and I tried to team up to hold one pole steady for Steve and it ended up making a see-saw (pun credit to Sophie!)
• Poor Jack doing a great job despite having really saw arms from his climbing adventure
• Jess and Sheila working saw fast
• Saw many smiles from Diya and Kanika
• Saw-phie has a name we can just about making into a relevant pun!
• We made much more than just a den-t in the pile of poles
• Clara's skills when it came to saw-ting out the wood store
• A photo shoot around the camp fire
• Our fitness session, which included everything from tree-cep dips, to 'bum taps'...we were really on fire!
• Plus some lovely planks. They're great for strengthening the trunk! Thanks to Anita for timing.
• Jess helping me log everything up when it was time to head for home

Thanks to Steve, Diya and Kanika for returning the tools and thanks to everyone who cheered me on as I ran intervals on the way home. Everyone else enjoyed a chatty walk.

Well done everyone for another great evening getting fit, doing good and having a laugh.

We came, we saw-ed and now it's time to log off and conk(er?) out!