A regular task with regular runners, but not our regular area activator… we had Ana-lternative run lead tonight in Lucy to get the gang of GoodGymmers down to Chiswick House safely.

We met Chris the gardener, who let us into the grounds after hours and led us up to the grounds to grab our gear for tonight’s task and off we headed to the spot where the action would be occurring. The exciting thing about Chiswick House is that every time we visit there always seems to be a new area to discover, and a different task to be done.

Tonight, we were shown a mountain of woodchip and mulch, with the addition of a few autumnal leaves sprinkled atop. Our task was to move this woodchip from its pile below cedar tree A to a new spot below cedar tree B, about 100 yards down. So we got to work, forking down and shovelling the organic matter into wheelbarrows, moving it across the grounds and then dumping the load in the correct place for Chris to rake out. The relocated woodchip and mulch is full of nutrients for the soil and tree roots below, and helps to increase the biodiversity of the ground below, which is, Chris explained, a really good thing.

So we had done good and learnt some good! Cedar tree B had a new ring of woodchip, finished just as our time was up. Wheelbarrows, shovels, forks and rakes were safely located back by the kitchen gardens and Chris unlocked the gates and let us escape back into the wild once more. The walkers went off, followed by the running group, and we all happened to meet at the pub at the same time following our cool down. Timed to perfection once more!