Barfield Road play area has been closed for quite some time after being declared unsafe. The timber edging around the play equipment was a big rotten, splintery trip hazzard. Our mission was to remove the timber and load it into a van for disposal.

I arrived 9 minutes late after bumping into Egg en route who told me that she 'definitely knew the way'. Though we didn't find the play area, we did find Izzy, who was using a map app to navigate there. Unsurprisingly, she got us to the right place... By that time, the rest of the crew were well underway with sledgehammers and spades, smashing up and digging out the rotten timber. A pile was already forming next to the entrance, ready to be loaded into the van.

It soon became apparent that this was going to be a two trip job. While the first van-load was driven away to be emptied, most of us dug over the areas that the timber had come from so that there were no dangerous holes left in the ground. Nikki didn't have a spade, but she did wander around with a hammer asking

Anyone need anything smacking with a hammer?

The remaining few had a go on the play equipment just to double check that it really was safe enough to use.

All hands were on deck (or timber) to load up the second van-full. A beautifully, socially distanced queue formed as we took it in turns to chuck our wooden loads into the back of the van.

And just like that, Barfield Road Play area can finally open its gates again to the children of York!