So on our run tonight we were excited to have a new member attending; unfortunately they were taken ill and had to cancel. They have confirmed that they will be attending the next gardening session though. Ultimately this may have worked out rather well as I was unable to get my usual support team along to welcome them in anyway. They had 'helpfully' planned a GoodGym social outing at a clashing time so hopefully next time we have a new attendee things will all fall rightly into place for everyone involved.

Tonight we met Anne and Zak up at Locke Park to assist with some gardening. Our task was to cut away plants obscuring the view down the serpentine walk from the path above it. We were also to clear the pathway just on the inside of the fence bordering the top of the walk; many plants had overgrown onto this area and needed pruning back to keep them in check. There had been some concern over our safety when venturing down the slope to prune the plants. The situation was risk assessed and deemed to be within our remit (with members always only taking part in what they feel is safe for them of course). We hopped the fence like rabbits and started snipping away the overgrowth from the path. We used long loppers for the skyward reaching large plants and secateurs for the low lying shrubs. Care was taken when moving anywhere because of the steep slope behind us and the aggressive brambles lurking in the undergrowth ready to spring out when branches in their vicinity were snipped. Alongside clearing the pathway, we were also asked to chop down anything obscuring the view down the valley from the bench to the height of the border fence. Alongside the odd bits of rubbish that had found their way into the bushes we found a large plastic box with lid that Anne wanted to keep for storing things in in the shed. All of our cuttings were thrown over the fence onto the path to be put into the two rubble sacks we had with us. Meanwhile Anne was busy with the leaf blower clearing the surrounding paths of debris and Zak was keeping an eye on everything from his vantage point on the bench. Every now and then a passer-by would give us a cheerful comment on what good work we were doing which is always very motivational.

Tip chop work

When our time was up, we could clearly see a big improvement to the area, enabling easier access and the desired views of the valley from the bench and path which were the objectives. Our last task was to bag up the branches and leaves on the path. We filled two rubble sacks full and left the sacks to the side of the path for the gardeners to pick up the following morning.

After this we wheeled the tools back to the lock-up, said our goodbyes, and headed off down the hill for some stretching back at Glasshouse.