Sheer delight at the slow(worm) progress

It was the hottest day of the year (so far!) and we were all delighted to be greeted by Sarah and a box full of cool and refreshing watermelon after running up from Mud Dock to the lush Manor Valley Woods!

After meeting Martin, who runs the local conservation effort, he gave us a little tour - demonstrating just how much the land had changed with the work all the volunteers over the years have been putting in. After transporting a bunch of slow worms over to help grow the wild ecosystem, the worms had thrived and formed many happy wormy families in recent months. We were lucky to see a parent and baby slow worm (and some rare orchids too)!

Fun fact: Slow worms are also known as deaf adders, blindworms and long-cripples!

Following our nature tour, we set to work clearing the nettles and overgrowth around the trails and paths so that visitors to the nature reserve could enjoy it all its glory.

This was also David's last GoodGym good deed (for now) as he is moving on to new adventures in Lisbon. We celebrated with one last team brunch back at Mud Dock after the task and gave him the card we'd all been secretly signing which he was super pleased to receive.

David's been a member of GoodGym since 2014 so we're super sad to see him go, but he promises to come back and visit (and we could always use an excuse for a sunny race weekend in Portugal!)