The treasure hunters Steph and Kash were back at Bixley Allotments after a 4.5 km canalside run from West Ealing, racing away from the the army of the dead after they audaciously dug out some skeleton limbs they should have had left in peace. The adventurers desperately called the task owner Matwinder to unlock the Bixley Allotment gate, while Amber and Fudge stared curiously at them from behind the fence. Amber and Fudge, who lived at the allotment, didn't even think about opening the entrance! They must be forgiven though as they were foxes and didn't carry keys.

Matwinder sent Gurpal, the new member of Southall Transition and the Bixley site architect, who let Steph and Kash in. The GoodGym daredevils walked past the Bixley polytunnel, reminiscing about all the occasions when they had to hide inside from the downpour. They noticed a new plant being grown inside now: gourd.

Mani, the Southall Transition legend, also came over to lend a hand at the community garden. He had big plans for the area in the front of the old shed: a chicken coup! But the place for it had to be emptied first. Although not fully convinced about the safety of the future chicken coup citizens from the likes of Amber and Fudge, our adventure seekers chose the site clear-out task over Matwinder's offer of harvesting broccoli. How odd! Steph and Kash felt they would be in their element with crowbars and sledgehammers - and the old roof that occupied space in front of the shed was too heavy and chunky to remove in one piece. It was time for destruction!

While Steph and Kash indulged in the demolition craft, Gurpal secured the nails sticking out of the planks with a hammer, and Mani helped carry the wood aside. On the way to the timber cemetery, Steph found a Cinderella slipper shining with golden glitter. It was an omen of more treasures to find!

The adventure seekers started digging the soil uncovered after the removal of the roof, and wondering if they would unearth anything more impressive than two bikes buried at Bixley. Gurpal took a sieve to pan for gold, yet all that was separated from the earth were little stones - not even decent pieces of plastic and glass. Steph was lucky and excavated an owl figurine. Many pieces of a large store sign were dug out from the dirt, yet no one dared to complete the puzzle and satisfy their curiosity about the name of the forgotten shop.

A real breakthrough came when Kash discovered eight silver-looking rings in the soil! Only Mani knows what happened to them later. Not wanting to awaken more skeletons that day, Steph and Kash levelled the ground and, put a thick layer of woodchip on top. Are there more treasures buried under Bixley? Will they ever be found before the chicken coup is erected? The only way is to visit the community allotment!

Steph went to his 3rd community mission of the day : back at Bixley allotments and was meeting Matwinder. I was intrigued to see who took over from Mani. it was a good surprise as someone I know and already did good deeds with this person a few months back which included of planting trees in Southall Green. Yes it was Adel!! Todays mission was to sort out the compost area on the side of the shed. Tidy the back where brambles took over the top of the area, get rid of the rubbish but also create a new storage for the compost. With Adel, we retrieved several pallets to create a new enclosure. Then we cleared the brumbled area above the existing one, with collecting the blackberries which all the volunteers palette would appreciate. Once the area cleared, we put 2 pallets to create the frame and reinforcing the side and back. Adel would finish this tomorrow as is getting more pallets locally. We then skipped a lot of rubbish(bags, plastic etc). We hit a mile stone : check the massive stone I hit during the digging/clearing!! We found logs when clearing and created a fence/separation for the plot which also creates a natural habitat for the local insectes. A lovely robin came and watched us from a couple of meters. Once we finished, we were invited to have chai and black tea with something tasty items from the allotment for our palettes : sweet desserts, fruit and some snacks. On my way out of the allotment, I spotted beautiful sun flowers and had to take pictures of them as different colors.

Six goodgymers joined at Bixley Field Allotments for an afternoon of surprises. Kash, Beata, Anuj and Steph had lunch together and walked to the allotment with one thought in mind as had a heavy lunch after a morning community mission : lets have a nap!! Penny cycled and Christos ran to the site. Always a lot and new things to be done at Bixley. The group split and started digging around the pond, digging by the compost pile to make a path, cleared rubbish near the shed. Then it was a game of hide and seek as the weather decided to send confetti from the sky except it was wet and ruins our hair :-)at least for those who have some. Heavy showers : the team had to hide in the shed and in the usual polytunnel for a short while. Once over they wen back to their occupations. The sunglasses came back out. Steph Ducat and Kash started dancing behind the shed : dancing as were being stung by the growing weed, vine and thorns from the fence they were clearing. Christos was giving the tree on the path a nice hair cut in order for Mani and Steph to walk beneath it without needing to bend down. Meantime Penny, Beata and Anuj finished the digging and clearing around the pond. At the end of the session, the confetti from the sky had stayed away and our hair was not wet and did not get frizzier.

After meeting at the morning community mission at Acton junior parkrun and going opposite ways to help different areas, Harvey and Kash reunited at Bixley Allotments for their last task this week.

The mound of hidden rubbish where the GoodGymers dug out bikes last month still needed attention. While Harvey and Kash worked their shovels to excavate ancient litter, "The Boss" arrived.

Here comes trouble...

Matwinder enthusiastically wheeled onto the narrow path to the allotment and brought some fresh perspective to the Bixley plot.

Did you see the tulips? They are beautiful!

The GoodGymers looked around. Indeed, Bixley was not reduced to the rubbish mound behind the shed after all. The flowers looked gorgeous!

Mani took Harvey, Kash and the least flat-tyred of the wheelbarrows on a side quest outside the boundaries of the allotment. They ventured to Southall to pick up a nano polytunnel parts and deliver it to Bixley. Once back on site, Mani shoved it inside the mini polytunnel. Hopefully, no parts were missing. That was a surprisingly quick and easy job after all the work on building the macro polytunnel at Western Road!

Harvey and Kash finished the session, taking out the bags with collected litter to dispose of in the bins nearby, then had an excellent walk back in the sun towards Hanwell along the canal towpath.

GoodGym Team had been previously hired by Mani for all sorts of jobs: construction, kung-fu training, filmmaking and dirty jobs you don't want to know about! This time GoodGymers came to Bixley Field Allotments for excavation work.

Instead of a team of expert archaeologists, GoodGym sent a gang of treasure hunters, including GoodGym versions of Indiana Jones, Nathan Drake and Lara Croft.

With spades, forks and ploughs, the trio dug into an antique pile of soil and rubbish behind the fig tree and found all sorts of treasures:

• ancient aliens' weapons
• unidentified rusty metal pieces
• buckets with organic-smelling substances
• a very long hose
• an engine

This is what we'll need when we have to rebuild the civilisation

• footwear

Oh, a Roman shoe! - Luis That's a Cinderella shoe! - Steph

• a handlebar

The handlebar-shaped thing sticking out from the soil looked interesting, so the team kept digging. After some more unearthing work, Luis realised he was standing on a bike wheel!

Maybe it is a bike cemetery. This is where bikes come to die. - Luis

Kash soon dug out the top part of the frame and the saddle. In the soil near the seat, the group kept uncovering quite large bones.

It is the rider! - Steph
It was a very, very huge chicken! - Luis

After locating the chain and one of the pedals, the GoodGymers attempted to pull the bicycle out of the soil, but it wouldn't move. Steph decided on a more radical approach and devastated the earth covered with roots on the top of the bike's rear wheel with a plough. All three treasure hunters pulled the frame once again, and this time, the whole bike raised from its grave - and not just one...

There are two bikes tangled together!

Now Steph and Kash had bikes and could go on a ride with the cyclist, Luis, along the canal! Or maybe to a repair shop first.

That was an impressive find and an achievement that desired a break. The GoodGymers, and the regular volunteers Shaz and Julia, gathered by the shed, and Mani fetched snacks. The refreshments included water and hot, fresh samosas Mani promised Kash on Thursday. Julia brought more of her mum's crab apple jelly and distributed it among the group.

The session ended early, with Kash walking back to Southall centre for a mission, Luis riding back home, glad he dodged the forecasted rain, and Steph taking it easy on the way home after his morning 10km race and a run to the task.

Despite best efforts to finish the manure-move-manoeuvre at Western Road Urban Garden a.k.a. filming the Poopa's Delight documentary, the GoodGym team was low in numbers and seemed slightly overwhelmed by a massive pile of... manure.

Mani, the manager of Feeding Ealing, and the mastermind behind today's project to secure a plastic sheet of a polytunnel and then move the horse dung inside the construction, had to make a tough decision. He called his regular volunteers from Bixley Allotments and said he was cancelling today's session, redirecting all hands to Western Road. Three GoodGymers: Miriam, Steph and Kash, were already there, shovelling and whellbarrowing like crazy.

Mani hands make light work

Mani rolled up the sleeves himself and got to work. Small shovels, flat tyres of the barrows - nothing could stop the combined power of GoodGym Ealing and Mani. Except for the time. Because the GoodGym gang had been working non-stop at the 2-hour task before, seamlessly blending themselves into the replacement Bixley session, Kash made a deal with Mani to drop the tools at 3 pm. After all even GoodGymers need to eat and rest. Sometimes.

The manure pile shrunk significantly after the relentless effort of the team, and the ground inside the polytunnel had a decent fertiliser coverage. Mani was grateful for the help he received from GoodGym today and offered the volunteers samosas, pub lunch or at least chocolates as thank you. The last option was taken. Yet another determined effort to make the community food-growing vision a reality!