One Goodgymer helped several other local volunteers at Westcombe Woods - a wild oasis that is part of a wildlife corridor and not often open to the public. We cleared a nest box that was used earluer in the year and found that an enterprising insect had used the original nest - an empty pupae left behind! Cut back brambles and bind weed near the beehives - but not too near as one of the colonies has apparently been a bit angry recently! It's been a tough year for honeybees.

A lovely place to visit if you're lucky enough to get inside!

There was soooo much woodchip. Westcombe Woodlands work us hard and certainly help us put the gym in Good Gym and this month was no exception.

7 Good Gymers arrived at the woods to be met by not just one but two gigantic piles of woodchip. Being the efficient team that we are we split into two groups with Bea, Cecilia and Marta shovelling the chips into containers for Ivar, Julian, Kerry and Mayuri to carry up the hill to replenish the paths.

After an hour or so the volunteers were amazed that we’d managed to completely clear one of the giant piles and to replenish a huge length of pathway. All the was remained was to enjoy a well-earned cup of tea.

Back at Westcombe Woodlands, and this time we had royalty. Alongside mere mortals Jenny, Aman and Ivar, Marta rocked up fresh from junior parkrun having officially ascended to the GoodGym pantheon of gods with 1000 tasks!!

No red carpet awaited, so we made our own, hauling bucket after bucket of woodchip up the narrow paths and spreading it across the mud.

By the end, we’d mulched the mission, and left the trail looking tree-mendous.

There's always a lot to do at Westcombe Woodlands and today was no exception. 3 Good gymers made their way there on a milder than expected January Sunday and were soon put to work.

Task one was a wet old tarpaulin that needed to be hung out to dry. And with some ropes and some long suppressed girl/boy scout knot knowledge we soon had the tarpaulin strung between a couple of trees like so much washing.

Next up was tackling the overgrowth. Holme oak, Holly, the inevitable brambles and some other plants were overgrowing the path and providing too much shade so had to go. Demonstrating agility that would shame a mountain goat we'd soon cut everything back extensively, letting in much more light to the woods.

Westcombe Woodlands is a wonderful task and we're all looking forward to getting back there in Febraury.

On Sunday morning a group of GoodGymers met at Westcombe Woodlands, a secret haven tucked away behind Maze Hill station. As before, there were plenty of overgrown brambles to tackle on the slopes, so we got to work with our secateurs and forks to clear some space for the trees to flourish. Whilst most of the group attacked the brambles, another group, including Ashton, continued work on building new steps up by the pond.

90 minutes later, after much discussion of firework puns and several scratches, it was time to head off to enjoy a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Until next time! 🎆🌿

Sunday saw Good Gym back at Westcombe Woodlands, one of our favourite tasks and this month saw a new variation on the usual theme, namely that alongside the usual and eternal brambles we now had to remove a large number of Robinia plants. The plant is a non-native species that is not terribly good at providing a habitat for local species, including the many bats that inhabit the woods (stay tuned for news on September bat walks batfans). It turned out to be a tough old thing too: the plants were well established with a deep rooting system that all needed to come out. But Good Gym persists and after 90 minutes or so (including a welcome tea break) we’d cleared a lot of unwanted plants from the woods.

Thanks to all who came and thanks to Marta for the pun