A glorious morning of sunshine greeted the 7 GGers who headed out to the Ham Lands for a morning of doing good. As usual, Sharon was there to meet us and led the group to an area we had tackled around the same time last year, where we had cut down the suckers growing up near the cherry trees.

So it was a morning of sticks (and saplings and brambles). We cut them down from the main tree in the middle, from the surrounding areas and from the undergrowth, and gathered them up to deposit in the ever-increasing pile tucked away amongst the trees.

While most of us were having a stick-y time with the choppers and loppers, Rosie tackled an even stickier challenge left behind by a passing canine to help prevent sticky shoes for walkers using the pathway 💩

We worked hard and made a lot of progress, and at the end of our allotted time we had made a real difference, as well as soaking up some vitamin D from the warming sunshine.

All that was left was a group picture before we headed off to the Swiss bakery for delicious coffees and snacks.

Next time up is the 8th June - you can sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-the-happy-ham-landers-3ae1f524-d6fd-44ec-a291-890a4ec45133

Our Saturday mission was at the Landmark Art’s Centre, where we were digging up the footpath of their garden. We had to dig deep enough to get to the membrane and remove the membrane sheets. These have been there for quite a few years and it was more like tearing them out one bit at a time. There will be a new path laid, which will also be more accessible for wheelchair users. We spotted quite a few worms and fat, white grubs. Afterwards, we rewarded ourselves with a good ‘grub’ at the Anglers pub and enjoyed the sunshine!

It was a cold one this time on the Ham Lands as we gathered for another dose of natural habitat management. We were back on the same patch as last time, digging out the brambles to ensure the area would flower properly come the spring.

After a short while a few of us were assigned to a second task, which was to cut down small trees to use on a hedgerow fence.