What's your favourite berry? A warm-up survey suggested that blueberries were the most popular in our group today, but have you heard of 'Autumn' or 'Golden' raspberries? What about Himalayan blackberries? Well, whatever you choice there's a good chance you'll find it growing down at the Malago Berry maze, our destination for this mornings group run and the first of THREE GG Bristol group activities occurring this weekend in addition to all the regular missions that are taking place.

A straightforward run along the Malago greenway soon brought us along to our host Jackie and with Barney giving us a quick introduction to hoe technique we were off, clearing weeds from the paths around the berry bushes with hoes, trowels, spades and an extra special two-prong weeding tool expertly employed by Fi.

While we worked we discussed future race plans. Paulin is busy preparing for the Cardiff half - and following our chat it could be that Hannah will join her for her first attempt at the distance!

By the end of the session we had completely cleared the first path of weeds which means that Jackie can now walk past without seeing another job to do and the maze will be that much easier to navigate when it opens to the public on the Bristol open doors day on 15 September.

(We did of course find one more buried car part right at the end of the session - can anyone identify what Darren is holding?)

Thanks to Fi for the pun and to David for back marking today.

On this adventurous Tuesday, we ventured our way (on a quick-paced, bike dodging, cycle path route) to Felix Road Adventure Playground to whip it up ahead of the looming summer holidays this weekend.

The playground is a safe space for all of the children in the local area. All of the children who attend during the holidays receive a hot meal, which is not always something they can access at home. The playground has been owned as a charity for the past 5 years and, over that time, the group has united different communities from across this varied area over the playground gates.

Zoe and Mandy from Felix Road met us and were delighted to set us into tasks across the huge playground. One group set off on a special leafleting mission to spread the word as far and wide as they could about the range of activities coming up for children over the summer holidays. They did a wonderful job - not only did they get rid of a weighty bag of leaflets, they had their own adventure, venturing their way through the high rises of Easton.

After the hot spell we have had over the past months, the playground's grass was looking pretty dead. A team of expert water-ers got on the task, and managed to water all of the masses of grass and plants across the whole playground to coax it back to life (putting on some impressive gun shows while they did so (ahem, Caroline)).

Meanwhile, the rest of the group armed themselves with gloves and various levels of sharp and blunt equipment to try and get rid of the nettles and brambles invading the Conservation Area and the back of the playground. With minimal blades to hep, the group still did a very impressive job of clearing the areas, and really helped get the grounds ready for the children to use.

Last but not least, Gary proved himself on a one-man mowing mission, featuring lawnmower hill-reps.

The time went too quickly (especially the part when we could climb on the playground), but the team were really pleased with the work we got done and have asked us to come back and help again when the summer programme finishes. And next time, we will spend more time on the climbing frame...

Big thanks to Alex for her pun of the week! Kudos to you.