The second instalment of the "Operation Pond" at The Grange Primary School saw an influx of GoodGym forces, with four Ealing regulars: Steph Ducat, Sevan, Afshin and Kash, a frequent Hounslow guest: Maxime, and three faces new to Ealing: Ines, Breda and Libi. For Libi, it was her very first GoodGym session, and she welcomed the opportunity with a constant smile.

Nova, the school's garden club teacher and the lead of the mini wetlands centre project, had several tasks today for the GoodGymers, volunteers, parents and children who joined the Saturday afternoon session. Breda, Libi, and later Sevan were digging the grass around the pond and transforming the slightly overgrown area into flowerbeds and even one raised bed, which suddenly materialised in the middle of the session (thanks to one crafty volunteer). They planted a variety of flowers and herbs, daffodils, wild garlic and spinach. Maxime was busy with a general tidy-up, litter picking, raking and wheelbarrowing leaves to the faraway compost pile, and lending a hand in multiple side-quests he kept discovering.

The biggest operation that needed the most volunteers was, of course, the pond. We were surprised to see that it was filled with some water again. Maybe it shouldn't have been so unexpected, given the recent weeks of rainy days. Armed with buckets, we quickly dried the pond to a reasonable degree, pouring the water into a tank and then into a drain on the playground. A couple of youngsters joined in, guided by their parents, and we were amazed by their enthusiasm and determination.

Between our first and second sessions at the Grange Primary School, Nova had secured several half-tonne bags of donated material for filling the pond. Gravel, sandy soil and topsoil were one ingredient for making the pond shallower. The second ingredient was the muscle. Ines, Afshin, Steph, Sevan and Kash, together with one super-strong volunteer, were shovelling the dirt, carrying bucketloads of earth, dragging and tipping really heavy bags, and moving the soil to shape a smaller pond with less steep banks. Then they moved the soil again. And again. It was hard graft, but eventually they carved a neat, muddy bowl and covered it with a liner. The other half of the old pond, which would become its own project, was separated from the new pond with a barricade made of tyres.

That was the point where we stopped, as we had run out of material to continue filling the basin and ideas on how to further improve the pond at that point. Nova was pleased with the result today, and mentioned she'd be keen to host another session with GoodGymers once she secures additional funding for the mini wetlands centre.

GoodGym Ealing made their first visit to Grange School, where a brood of ducks had a dream to turn their long dry pond bed into a beautiful wetland centre.

"We pay to send our ducklings to a wetland centre in Barnes."
"Why not create a wetland centre at the school?" - Nova, task owner

Standing in front of the deep pit that would become a pond, the GoodGymers and Nova took a gander at it to plan out the session. The hole was bigger than needed, so first up was to waddle in and clear any debris from the bottom then split the space. Vegetation, soil and rubbish were dug out and separated, with a surprising number of tennis balls found as ducks don't play tennis 🤷.

It was Zuzanna's first task with GoodGym and she took to it like a duck to water 🦆🥳👏. She found huge interest in a number of unexpected invertebrates hiding in the pit that the school of ducks hadn't eaten yet, including centipedes, worms and furry caterpillars 🐛.

Once the clearing of the pit was completed, a large new flock arrived, complete with their ducklings who attended the school. They preened the soil surrounding the future pond to remove weeds and grasses that weren't wanted. The GoodGym team moved on to organising pots and a stack of tyres, then raked and bagged leaves, with frequent flights to the far away compost heap to make drop offs.

A new liner was laid for the now smaller pond and the team dove into the empty space next to it to fill it with soil. The old soil that had been dug out went back in as well as fresh bags. Then, to round out the task, everyone jumped on the newly laid soil to bed it in.

The space was transformed in 2 hours and it was great to have so many drakes and ducks come along to make it happen. There is plenty more to do in future sessions, like completing the soil infill and then getting water into the pond liner, so keep an eye out for new listings.