Seven months have passed since GoodGym last supported Walpole Park, making it clear that sessions in this beloved green space in the heart of Ealing are very much an autumn-winter thing. The temperatures, however, did little to signal the changing season. GoodGymers still happily sported short sleeves and shorts, while the park, despite being pitch black, teemed with nightlife, wildlife and parklife. Frolicking people and foxes alike were seen – or smelled!

The park welcomed back some seasoned Walpolers: Chris, Harvey, Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash. Amy and Scott, who joined GoodGym over the spring and summer months, got their first taste of a nighttime Walpole Park session. Breda also visited from GoodGym Hounslow and was amazed by the abundance of tools sourced by our friend Richard.

Yes, Richard! The long-missed Ealing Greenwayer, best known to us from Pear Tree Park, made a comeback wearing his kitchen garden volunteer hat. He also hosted a historic session: the first time a task owner was actually present in Walpole Park during one of our activities!

Richard showed us a secret pocket of leafy compost, which we were tasked with moving to the kitchen garden's compost bins. The mulch was very well concealed indeed. Even when led to this obscure (but surprisingly well-lit, thanks to Ealing Studios) spot, the compost was hiding in plain sight.

"We are actually standing on a layer of composted leaves" – Richard.

To get to the mulch, we first had to excavate it. And it wasn't as quick and easy as simply shovelling: the compressed leaves were intertwined with roots. Some of us relished the challenge of seemingly endless digging and the accompanying upper-body workout.

"It's like a canoeing trip. After the first half an hour your arms are dead, but then you're numbed and just carry on." – Amy.

Supplied by Richard with barrows in addition to two larger trolleys, we managed to fill one of the compost bins almost to the brim. It was a successful first Walpole Park session of the season, but surely not the last one. So watch this space for more night-park-life coming up this autumn and winter!

A year after their last volunteering session at Our Lady of the Visitation Primary School in Greenford, a chance encounter in central Ealing brought Team GoodGym back to find out what had happened to the planned wildlife reserve. Last year a veg patch and the pond were well established, with the rest of the space still needing to be cleared and planted.

Returning today, Rachel and her keen pupils had been busy. They had:

• Completed the woodchip path
• Grown some beautiful sunflowers
• Planted wildflower seeds to create a Nectar Highway
• Created a hedge-y area to attract hedgehogs
• Been studying the lifecycle of hundreds of newts in their pond

Lots of discoveries for curious minds.

Other things hadn't changed from last year. The path through the wildlife reserve had again become a bramble highway. This was not the type of highway the school wanted to encourage. Most of the brambles were rooted in the flowerbeds off the path, so while some of the team got chopping, others dove into the dried out beds to dig out any roots that they could.

Therese, Maria, Kash and Steph chopped and dug their way through the whole session, clearing the space. As the bramble levels dropped off, Amy, Scott and Sevan moved onto task 2, emptying the soil from giant planters. Task owner Rachel saved the plants that had survived the summer, then the planters were dragged across the playground. The soil was dug out and placed in ton bags until they were light enough to lift and tip what was left. Six planters later, they were done.

Everyone enjoyed their session at the school, with some marvelling at how much space the school had available. Rachel was really impressed with what the large team achieved and she still has big plans and projects in the pipeline, so we could be back again, sooner rather than later.

"Thank you so much. Huge difference." - Rachel

It was already October, and the leaves on many of the trees on Horsenden Hill had turned golden, but everything else around us tried to tell us it wasn't really autumn yet. Short sleeves and sunglasses, rather than a rain jacket, were the right outfit for the mild and windless day at the community farm, where eight Ealing GoodGymers welcomed guests from GoodGym Hammersmith & Fulham and GoodGym Hounslow.

David, who joined us for his first Ealing session, was impressed by the farm's unique and peaceful character and gave us the all-too-familiar line about Perivale's hidden gem.

"I lived all my life in West London and didn't know this place existed!"

We’ve heard it many times, and we know that Horsenden likes to surprise those who eventually get to discover it.

Today's surprise on our way to the two assigned tasks was the new arrival in the horse meadow: Charlie the pony. Last month, we'd been creating a new paddock for him and his companion, Trixie. Since then, the meadow we'd cleared had been fenced off for protection, and new grass had already started to replace the areas cleared of brambles.

The October Horsenden session continued expanding the meadow up the hill. Half of the GoodGymers, the Bramble Team, took loppers, shears and silky saws, not only to cut back blackberries but also to saw through thick branches along the way.

Meanwhile, the other part of the gang, the Rubble Team, transported debris from the car park to fill the gaps in the eroded ditch near the canoe club shed. What we learned later from Ranger Jon Staples was that the idea of using rubble came from the military's riprap - a rocky, loose material laid in a way that helps protect shoreline structures.

The second part of Team Rubble's assignment was to spread mulch over the riprap that had already been laid. In the near future, when a hedge is planted above the rubble and decomposed woodchip, its roots, together with the rocks, will help protect the bank from further erosion, while the hedge will prevent canoeists and visitors from falling into the ditch.

Both teams did a fantastic chunk of hard work that will help the volunteer-led farm thrive. Later in the day, Elsa, the task owner, sent us a lovely message:

"Thank you so much to your team for all the hard work you did today. I don't know if you all realise how valuable it is to us."

If being recognised for impactful work wasn't enough, our team took an hour for an indulgent team lunch with pizza, local soft drinks and craft beer, then marvelled at the tiniest rodents in the whole of Europe - the harvest mice - at Horsenden's Mouse House.

Check our future sessions at Horsenden Farm here.

On an exceptionally warm Tuesday night, eight GoodGymers reprised their roles as rake and spade wielders and wheelbarrow drivers in the sequel to the magnificent fruit tree mulching task in Blondin Park. Dora even made it into the permanent cast after her debut at the same location last month! The task owner, Linda, wasn't around this time to welcome us, but she had arranged for volunteer David to support us and provide everything we needed - apart from Linda's famed hot chocolate!

The soft, golden-hour light was replaced this time by a darker backdrop, punctuated by flashing headlamps and work lights that helped the team find the apple trees in need of mulching. A few trees had been waiting for a dose of woodchip, with their bases exposed, since the beginning of August. These were prioritised for mulching by most of the team, while Richard and Giles made a start on digging the grass out from around a tree that wasn't quite ready for woodchipping yet.

Despite the late hour and the time of year making for less-than-bright conditions, everyone enjoyed the mild night-time temperature, with only a few drops of rain falling from the sky. The team achieved an impressive amount in such dim conditions, leaving only a few larger trees still awaiting their turn for mulching.