The legend has it that deep in the ancient woodlands of Grove Farm, there was a hundred-year-old manhole covering a portal to another dimension.

Five GoodGym daredevils walked, ran and cycled to join Mike the Explorer on his mission to uncover the gate to the multiverse. The quest brought the only survivors of Mike's last month's manhole expedition: Sevan and Kash, as well as couch surfers (but not as you imagine them!), Steph Ducat and James, and a guest from another universe (GoodGym Wandsworth), Kamil.

The team used the cryptic what3words clue that.amuse.adults and a magic staff they hadn't been able to use previously - it looked like a metal detector! Mike demonstrated what the contraption does when it gets in proximity of a wormhole to a different dimension.

Aaa-aah

We heard a cry, which we couldn't tell whether it came from a human, an animal or something entirely out of this world. We had never encountered such a demonic voice.

Did a girl shout?
Was it a cat?

In fact, it was the staff channelling the sounds from the other universe! None of the heroes felt brave enough to wield such a haunted item. Eventually, Sevan, who probably resembled a wizard the most, was tasked with sweeping the staff over the ground to make it shout:

Aaa-aah!

Mike brought another enchanted weapon with him: The Hedge Equaliser, also known as The Brambles' Bane. That was Kash's favourite tool of destruction, and she only dropped it when faced with an even more powerful artefact: The Black Circle. Others might have been fooled and thought it was just a fly-tipped tyre, but the adventurers knew better. The circle must be destroyed (or at least recycled). One does not simply walk into Mordor with a huge ring of rubber - but one can roll it to the border of Grove Farm! Kash volunteered to do so, and probably for the best, as James picked up her sword and did a far better job pushing back a horde of brambles.

In the meantime, once in a while, the explorers kept hearing:

Aaa-aah!

Mike and Sevan dug out some 20th-century treasures from places hinted at by the magic staff, but none of the artefacts resembled a door obscuring an interdimensional portal.

Feeling that the quest to find a manhole was not succeeding, Mike decided on plan B, which involved simply digging a wormhole in a location associated with a primal power source: near the water. Kamil and Steph, with skill and power, quickly created a man-made hole with earthworms inside. A manhole and a wormhole in one? That would do, Mike thought, and, together with the team, planted a legendary tree in the hole: the black poplar.

In case you didn't know, black poplars are very rare, especially the female trees. Mike wanted to restore balance in Grove Farm by closing the gender gap within the tree population. Once the new female black poplar roots itself into the wormhole, it will become a guardian of the multiverse, and GoodGymers will be able to jump to different worlds to do more good - or wreak chaos, perhaps? Time will tell.

We will be back to the magical Grove Farm for more adventures next year, so make sure to join us!