Last night we visited a very special place in the middle of Battersea Park to help support a local legend!

Battersea Park's peace pagoda is an iconic part of London's riverside, and was constructed in 1984 by a group of volunteers, including The Reverend Gyoro Nagase. It is a symbol of peace and unity and a spiritual place for many. Today the Reverend is the sole caretaker of the pagoda, and lives in a small building nearby.

It is a lot of work for one person, so we were asked to come and lend a hand. It's a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of the small temple and to be part of this amazing part of Battersea history!

So after meeting for a warm up and to take a guess at which were the least known European capitals (according to Pointless it is Podgorica, Ljubljana and Bratislava!) we ran down to Battersea Park. Our first stop was the Thrive herb garden where we grabbed tools then split up into two groups.

The first party stayed at the garden to free some tiles from the brambles that had grown over them. These weren't just any tiles though - they were tiles that had been blessed by the Reverend Buddhist monk so they can be used to fix the Pagoda. This definitely means that Chris, Becca, Felix and Pritesh are forever more a part of Battersea history!

Meanwhile the rest of the group headed off to the small house and temple a short walk away to help clear the garden there. We were greeted by The Reverend Gyoro Nagase himself, and got straight on with the main jobs. Tasks included cutting a walkway in the hedge for the Reverend to get access to the back of the garden, and collecting up the masses of leaves that had collected and were making getting around the space tricky.

It was an amazing spot to work in, right by the famous fountains, and in the middle of a very quiet, very dark Battersea Park. It almost felt like we had the place to ourselves until we emerged from the area and back into the main carriageway which was buzzing with other running groups and cyclists.

We reunited to find that the tile group had done a very efficient job, and packed everything away. Join us next week as we head over to the scout hall for a tidy up! Dib, dib, do good and get fit!