Saturday 8th May 2021
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Report written by Anwen Greenaway
We had unfinished business at Boundary Brook Nature Park, and that will just not do. 2.5 weeks ago we started building gravel paths through the Nature Park, but we ran out of both gravel and time and so had to leave the paths unfinished. Today it was time to return to the newly-replenished gravel heap to see how much we could achieve with the luxury of a 2 hour work window.
Oxford Urban Wildlife Group had used all their allotment contacts to acquire enough wheelbarrows for 14 GoodGymmers, so with 8 wheelbarrows moving in convoy, and an ace shovelling team, we were able to keep an almost constant flow of gravel moving through the Nature Park and getting deposited at Pete and Helen's feet for raking and spreading into a smooth(ish) pathway. Our experience of wheelbarrows in the last week or so has lead us to the realisation that not all wheelbarrows are created equal: Venetia retired the one with the wonky wheel, Dan declared the one without a wheel frame unfit for gravel tasks, and 1.5 hours in we discovered that there is such a thing as a E-Barrow - although using one would probably disqualify us from calling it a GoodGYM task.
In total we shifted 10 tonnes of gravel to finish and extend the wheelchair-friendly paths around the nature park which we started on our last visit. That works out at 0.714 tonnes per GoodGymer, or 0.357 tonnes per GoodGymer per hour. A more than decent workout - we've definitely earnt some pudding tonight!
Environment conservation, habitat restoration and management, wildlife gardening and wetland habitat management, community engagement, nature education.
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