With better than expected weather and a change to the planned task, six hardy Goodgymmers enjoyed a morning of barrowing wood chip, digging out saplings and a little bit of heavy lifting and dog petting thrown in for good measure.

Splitting into two groups, Leanne, Jane and Claire took charge of barrowing the wood chip, whilst I joined Jenna and Elle uprooting the unwanted saplings (the type of tree unfortunately forgotten) to be used to bulk out the dead hedges. There was a little bit of heavy lifting as well as we moved some of the large logs into position in the communal areas.

After an hour of hard work and carefully avoiding the dogs who were trying to help, the barrowing team finally cleared the wood chip pile (after two previous tasks) and the dead hedges were looking good by the time we stopped for hot drinks and cakes.

Back to Danesmead Wood to try and finish the path. It was a but wet but the five of us made good inroads into the pile of woodchip and ensure the path was refreshed. We then had a cuppa and a snack and headed off to get dry.

In the beautiful winter sun, five if us returned to Danesmead Wood to barrow and rake woodchip to improve the paths through the wood.

Despite only being a small group, we were able to shift the whole pile within the hour, giving us enough time to eat the delicious chocolate and coffee traybake Jude had made.

A beautiful morning in Danesmead Wood saw a bumper turnout of GoodGymmers to clear another area of nettle roots and turn the soil in preparation for planting some wild seeds. We did this task last year for an area next to where we were working and the flowers have established themselves really well.

With so many volunteers we cleared a much bigger area than initially planned and also fitted in some woodchip barrowing.

Post task, Jude has made us some amazing chocolate squares which were definitely earned.

We joined the Friends of Danesmead Woods session to help them dig the nettle roots out of an area ready for planting cornflowers. First we had to remove the mossy turf layer on top which Claire discovered rolled up surprisingly easily. The nettle rots were also satisfying to pull out. We discovered lots of unexpected slabs of rock just under the surface too as well as some rubbish. Leanne started the beginning of a rock border but it wasn't quite what they had in mind so instead she helped them shift the wheelbarrow of rocks. At the end we enjoyed some carrot cake and white chocolate blondies and hot drinks.

The groud was too frozen to undertake the digging part of the task so instead we got going on cutting and clearing long bramble and other branches from an area and building a dead hedge along one side. Luckily David had dead hedge building experience so he built whilst the rest of us cut and cleared. At the end everyone appreciated the cake and hot drinks provided by the Friends of Danesmead Woods and we arranged to come back to do the digging in February.