Rolling on the Steep

The first Saturday of each month is a regular volunteering session at Horsenden Farm which coincides with a tap day at the brewery on the site and an opportunity to refuel yourself by munching on the yummy fire-baked pizza, also at the farm. Three of us, undeterred by the soggy conditions, made our way to the farm to find out how accurate were the legends about the pizza.

Sevan and Kash arrived at the destination on foot, making their way along Grand Union Canal, the former running, the latter walking. Harvey also ran, only slightly delayed by an unexpected encounter with his journalist friend who lived by the canal. We found today's boss Elsa who offered us tea and asked us to fold a pile of wire from dismantled fences. Elsa told us she was expecting more non-GoodGym volunteers but they couldn't make it to the farm due to a change of personal plans. The weather and the coronation day might have also been the case.

We spent most of the volunteering session trying to untangle the pieces of metal, stamping on the wire to compress it and thinking hard about puns related to wires, rolling, folding, compression and springs. Sevan seemed to enjoy the puzzling aspect of the task, thinking about how to detach the individual wire pieces from the pile and how to fold them in an optimal way.

Having half an hour left on the task, we've been asked by Elsa whether we could transport a decomposing wooden sheep with concrete legs to a different area of the farm. We gave it a try but decided it is at least a four-person job and the sheep has to stay where it was until we get some more GoodGym power.

Elsa had an alternative task for us that also involved some heavy lifting and problem-solving. We were tasked to carry a small shed for storing firewood into a fenced area. The requirement was that the not-so-sturdy shed remains in one piece. To complete the tricky task we had to find a route that did not involve a narrow gate. Thanks to GoodGym's determination and the mix of rolling and lifting techniques, we dodged all the traps on the way: nettles, wires, rubble piles, steep paths and slippery slopes, and moved the wood shed to its new home.

It was high noon when we finished our assignments and when the brewery and pizza oven opened. Harvey and Sevan ordered their pizzas promptly and the food arrived in no time - just about when Kash came back with coffees from the farm's café & bakery. We enjoyed the unusual wire-bending and shed-rolling task so much (not to mention the pizza & coffee reward) that we thought GoodGym should make the Horsenden Farm visit a monthly thing!

In the morning, before the community mission, we met Sean from Ealing Wildlife Group carrying tanks with harvest mice that were going to be released into the wild at Paradise Fields. We bumped into him again after the task and learned that 120 were released today. Horsenden Farm has a large mice breedery on-site which is a part of endeavours to rewild Ealing. Tomorrow GoodGym is helping with releasing another batch of harvest mice at Marnham Fields!