Saturday 11th March 2023
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Report written by Dan Laws
Five GoodGymers swapped their Saturday morning lie in this week for a new challenge working alongside the National Trust to build a natural, living hedge! Andy and I met slightly earlier to follow Meyrick on a short 3km run up the hill from Cleveland Walk to the task location on the Bath Skyline. This was a tough but rewarding workout to start the weekend off!
Once the three of us had successfully reached the summit and arrived at the Skyline location we were joined by Ellie and Emily. We were tasked with continuing to construct a natural, living hedge which provides a sustainable and friendly habitat for local wildlife such as small birds and removes the need for other fencing.
Following a handy demonstration from the super friendly National Trust ranger on how to use a billhook and how to effectively cut the trees so that they could collapse in the correct way without splintering, we split into two groups and got to work on extending the hedge. Even with a small group of us and not too much time, we were able to make noticeable progress, and it will be nice to return in a few weeks to see how the hedge has continued to grow since!
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
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