We were run Ragg(wort)ed

It was a very humid July evening and nine GoodGym volunteers ran up Widcombe Hill to part of the Bath Skyline walk. We worked with a National Trust ranger to pull up Ragwort growing in the fields. It was a tough task and it was very warm but we really enjoyed being outside and making a difference. We ran a hilly 4.3km in total and had a great all-body workout with all the weed pulling!

We met at the leisure centre and I shared the latest news with everyone. We have a Community Mission coming up this weekend where we are helping at Cleve Hill campsite in Weston. It will be a fun one, so make sure you come and join us!

Bath running routes aren't just funny, they are hill-areas!

After a warm-up we were on our way. We headed down the river and up Widcombe Hill where we joined the Skyline Walk. Our host, Tabi, met us near Rainbow Woods. Tabi is a ranger working with the National Trust and part of her role involves leading volunteer groups to maintain the Skyline Walk. The Skyline Walk is a 6 mile circular route and it is a fantastic way to take in the sights of Bath. I strongly recommend giving it a go!

Dancing along to Rag(wort)-time!

Tabi gave us an overview of our task. We had to sweep through the fields like forensic detectives and pull up any Ragwort that we found. The fields are due to be cut next week to produce hay for cattle and Ragwort can be poisonous to cattle if they eat it in large quantities. So our hard work will help keep the food safe for cows in Bath.

Putting the GYM in GoodGym!

Ragwort was easy to identify in the fields of grass. It is a yellow flower with thin ragged petals. The hard part was actually pulling it up! The roots were quite deep and some of the plants were nearly as tall as us. There was some great team work to make sure we covered as much of the field as we could and sharing the load to pull up some particularly tough weeds.

Couldn't think of a butter way of spending a Tuesday evening!

We really enjoyed being outdoors surrounded by nature on such a glorious summer evening. As we walked through the waist-high grass flutters of butterflies erupted and danced all around us. We saw some interested orange bugs and a few spooky spiders, too!

We also had the chance to inspect some of our hedge-laying work we did earlier in the year at a Community Mission. It is great to see the hedge we laid becoming thicker and creating a natural barrier for the fields. Long may it continue!

Thanks!

Thanks to Tabi for arranging for us to come along last night. Thanks to Emily for backmarking and thanks to Chris for the pun this week.

There is more work to do and we are doing a similar task in two weeks time, so make sure to come along and help out again!

Upcoming Runs

• Next week we are helping out at Alice Park Community Garden.
• At the weekend we are helping out at a Scout Service Day in Weston
• In 2 weeks time we are heading up to the Skyline walk to complete the second part of our task