GoodGym have a lovely partnership with Boundary Brook Nature Park which goes back a few years. We've done a whole variety of tasks around the site, from reprofiling the pond, to building yards and yards of gravel path, litter picking and digging out bramble roots, to possibly our creepiest task to date - clearing the rubbish out of the abandoned sheds on the edge of the allotments.

Our January 2024 session at BB saw us getting stuck in (the mud) digging out bramble roots to try and stop them spreading further into the meadow area. Lazy dogs, forks, spades and plenty of brute force were the order of the day as we competed to dig out the biggest bramble root (some disagreement on whether length or girth were more important!). Working away, discarding layers as the sun broke through the clouds, getting thoroughly covered in mud, we ended up chatting away about all kinds of assorted topics including giant edible dormice, the current tally of GoodGym babies, the goats at Oxford City Farm, and how much Charlie has in common with a Disney princess with his knack of attracting wildlife to him (a frog, robin, cockchafer beetle grubs).

We always enjoy a couple of hours at Boundary Brook, so we'll look forward to some more path-building in the spring!

Welcome to GoodGym Susanna :-)

A pleasant Saturday morning with the Boundary Brook Nature Park volunteers raking leaves off the paths and planting 40 or so rose bare roots along the boundary line.

Congratulations on reaching 50 Good Deeds Ellie, and thank you for the excellent bakes to celebrate.

12 GoodGymers were up bright and early for a task at Boundary Brook Nature Park. We split into two groups to tackle raking, and digging for our old nemesis - the bramble root.

Boundary Brook have won a grant to plant some different species of grass and create a 'living library' for people to come and learn about them. Hopefully there will now be room for more grass and less bramble!

There was plenty of random conversation about the horrors of children's tv, how we could probably have our own GG band by now, and all about badgers (How big are they? How do you catch them? Just how accurate is the Animals of Farthing Wood?).

We also had congratulations for Louise on her 100th task!

♪ Just a sprinkle of rain can't stop us now ♪
♪ We're off to a nature park, no need to frown ♪
♪ We'll pick up litter and clear the grass ♪
♪ Nothing can dampen our spirits, it'll be a blast ♪

♪ The rain is falling, but we don't mind ♪
♪ We'll put on our raincoats, we're one of a kind ♪
♪ We'll gather together, our bags and gloves in tow ♪
♪ And head out to Boundary Brook, let's go, let's go! ♪

♪ The rain is pouring, the wind is strong ♪
♪ But we keep moving, all evening long ♪
♪ We pick up litter, glass, and metal too ♪
♪ We're making a difference, and that's what we'll do ♪

♪ The grass is long, but we don't fret ♪
♪ We grab our tools, and work up a sweat ♪
♪ We clear the pond area, revealing hidden gems ♪
♪ And keep going strong, until the session's end ♪

♪ The rain keeps falling, but we don't stop ♪
♪ We're determined, until the very last drop ♪
♪ And with every bag filled, we feel a sense of pride ♪
♪ Knowing that we're helping the environment to thrive ♪

♪ We finish the session with a sense of accomplishment ♪
♪ Feeling like we've made a positive development ♪
♪ We take a moment to appreciate the beauty around ♪
♪ And vow to continue our efforts to keep it sound ♪

We split into a litter picking team and a bramble digging team at Boundary Brook Nature Park.

Team bramble did excellent work digging out tenacious bramble roots in a wildflower area to allow/encourage greater biodiversity.

Team litter headed to an area on the edge of East Ward Allotments which the Oxford Urban Wildlife Group have recently agreed to look after. The plot is awash with litter so we made a start on clearing it...glass panels, tracksuits, sacks of household trash and all.

Thank you to Mark and Oxford Direct Services for arranging to collect the litter so promptly when we realised the pile was getting out of hand!

Oxford Urban Wildlife Group website is here.

We seem to have the knack of scheduling digging tasks during cold snaps lately, so this week we were exchanging regular messages with Helen from the Oxford Urban Wildlife Group to see if we could go ahead with our Saturday morning task. Luckily the ground hadn't frozen too hard by Saturday morning, so off to the nature park we went. It looked magical in the nature park in the frosty, freezing fog. Almost pretty enough for us to forget the cold!

Our task was to dig out bramble roots in a couple of patches of land that are destined to be grassland. The brambles take over fast in the spring, smothering other plants and massively reducing biodiversity, so digging out their roots in the winter helps stop that happening. Bramble roots are often huge - you'd easily mistake some for tree roots - so it's not always an easy task, but it is satisfying. The wildlife group had got 2 new Lazy Dogs for our session (sadly not snoozy canine companions, but a tool designed to dig out roots) so we were well equipped this month. A couple of muddy hours later we'd cleared several wheelbarrow loads of roots and had kept active enough that most of us could still feel our fingers and toes!

Welcome to GoodGym Louise.