Westcombe woodlands is a genuine hidden gem. Tucked behind Maze hill station, this former nursing home shows just what happens when sensible natural management and the power of nature can achieve in an urban space.

The woodland is an old Good Gym favourite and on a glorious Sunday morning, with the sun shining and unseasonably warm temperatures, a keen team of 5 runners made their way from other good deeds to join the local volunteers at their monthly session. Tasks at the woodland tend to fall into two categories: a relatively tough session removing brambles and other overgrowth to allow other plants to flourish; and sessions involving lugging all and sundry up a steep slope that put the gym in Good Gym. Dear reader, from the title of this report you'll realise that today's task was very much the latter.

The material to be lugged was twofold: three of the team set to work collecting mulch and woodchip to replenish the paths and the other two found themselves staring at a large and (very) heavy bag of aggregate, that was there to help ballast a new staircase that the amazing volunteers had carved out to open access to a previously inaccessible area of the woods. And we rose to the challenge, the chippers not being satisfied with just one bucket at at time carried huge quantities up the hill and those carrying the aggregate got enough stone up the hill to complete almost a whole flight of steps.

It was hard work, but reward soon came in the form of cup and tea, biscuits and the satisfaction of another job well done.

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! 🎆🌿