Not Gravelly Hill, gravelly steps!
4 Goodgymers helped their local community in Warwick & Leamington Spa
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Wednesday 7th September 2022
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Report written by Katherine (she/her)
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4 Goodgymers returned to help Bring Back Guys Cliffe with maintaining their vast grounds and gardens.
After a short jog from St Nick's park (including the rather steep hill up and over the canal) we arrived at Guys Cliffe to be welcomed by Anne who explained our task for the evening. Never failing to give us a great active task, this evening we were shoveling gravel from a trailer, into buckets, carrying it down a staircase, through a few rooms of the building, out the other side and then laying a layer of gravel on the outdoor steps at the back of the building.
Everyone found two buckets easier to carry than one (allowing us to be well balanced) so the four buckets we'd started out with were soon supplemented with an old dustbin that we could fill up and carry between two of us down the stairs.
Once the steps were covered with gravel and raked smooth, we moved onto putting a thin layer of gravel over the floor of cloisters cave. This required a slightly longer walk across grass once we got to the bottom of the steps and after one journey, we quickly decided the use of a wheelbarrow was a good idea! James and Nigel handled the wheelbarrow and took charge of spreading the gravel evenly across the floor of the cave, whilst Allan jumped up onto the trailer and attempted to scoop the remaining gravel to the edge before sweeping up all the overspill that hadn't quite made it into the buckets first time around.
With the trailer completely empty and the gravel spread across the steps and cave, it was a job well done and time to say goodbye to the other volunteers before heading back to St Nick's.
It was so lovely to see this amazing building and its beautiful surroundings in the daylight, whilst at the same time getting a great strength workout. We look forward to the next time!
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When legends fade... Long, long ago when the world moved at a gentler pace the land and greenwoods harboured special places, evocative retreats where certain delights of nature stirred the soul... Guy’s Cliffe is one such place and it blossomed from such humble beginnings to have an Oratory founded here in the 5th Century and thereon it afforded shelter to the legendary 10th Century Guy of Warwick, resident chantry priests also made their home here in the middle ages amongst whom was the noted 15th Century antiquarian John Rous whose history the site is now mostly lost. Latterly the famous Georgian actress Sarah Siddons stayed here often in the welcoming bosom of the Greatheed family, who along with the succeeding Percy family did further embellish the location to see it become a country manor of some worth and intrigue... Ultimately and sadly though it ended up somewhat slighted for it suffered greatly at the hands of negligence and fire, but all was not lost... Its present owners rescued the 15th Century Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene and ancillary rooms in the 1970’s armed with limited resources but bountiful determination. Now the outer grounds need that same commitment and attention and indeed the determination is there but our resources are few... We really need your help!
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