On 30 June 1908, near the Tunguska River in Siberia, a mysterious shock wave flattened 2,150 square metres of taiga forest. The explosion sparked numerous hypotheses and inspired many works of fiction. 117 years later, a similar event took place in Walpole Park, Ealing. Thistles in an area roughly the size of half a tennis court have been flattened by an unknown force. On Tuesday evening, the GoodGym Ealing Team set off around sunset to investigate the unusual occurrence.

Bryon and Kash headed to the Rangers' secret facility to collect scientific equipment while Steph and Sevan scouted the outer area of Walpole Park, running. Apart from the closed and taped gate, they haven't found anything worth reporting, so they reunited with the rest of the team. In the Rangers' base, the GoodGymers read the research materials about thistles. Easy to pull when young, was the key information. It seemed that the knowledge from seemingly unrelated fields applied to nature conservation. Armed with that advice, the team collected a trolley and a minimum of tools, just in case they would encounter mature thistles.

The site of the unnatural phenomenon, located near the park entrance close to Lammas Park, looked odd, but passers-by didn't seem to pay too much attention to the anomaly. The GoodGymers started collecting samples, and, in the process, they pulled out almost all the felled thistles. It appeared as if they were now covering up the incident. Kash took the first full trolley to dispose of the evidence. On the way through the dark park, she encountered a couple on the bench.

"Is that for the giraffes?", the man asked at the sight of the heap of thistles.
"Yes, and they already want seconds!"
"Ha. Very hungry!"

Steph was the one to bring the giraffes the "seconds", hauling the next trolley to the space where the Rangers kept sensitive evidence. Meanwhile, the team progressed with clearance so far that they have pulled out the thistles that hadn't even been knocked down. The third and final trolley was pulled by Sevan, with the assistance of the rest of the team, in case they weren't able to pull off the giraffe feed excuse anymore and would have to deal with the witnesses of the thistle drop off. Luckily, nothing like that happened, and all the evidence was safely disposed of in the designated area.

GoodGym sessions are meant to be short, sweet and impactful. With about an hour for a task at our group runs, it would be easy to leave a job half-finished - but we don't like that!

A month after we had turned into wild boars for one night to dig for bramble roots just as it were Périgord truffles, we returned to the pond area in Walpole Park for the wild wrestling showdown with the brambles!

Steph and Kash ran to the task, with the former carrying a sizeable backpack. Some people call it coming to a group run straight after work - we call it military-style training. Mohamed, Sevan and Andrew confidently walked into the ring, ready to put on thick, red gloves and knock brambles out of the park.

Andrew chose a fine job for his first GoodGym session and was about to make a difference in the park where he used to volunteer. Welcome, Andrew!

While we would expect Eye Of The Tiger to be the soundtrack for a prize fight, the music of a brass instrument, a trumpet perhaps, filled the park. Kash would swear it was an attempt on Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, but there was no one to confirm that.

In less than an hour the brambles by the pond were completely knocked out! To drag them out of the ring, first Sevan and Andrew had to haul a trolley with trimmings to the green waste area, then the activity was repeated by Steph and Mohamed. Our team left Walpole Park victorious with no more brambles to dig out in sight. We admit that it was just starting to get dark though!

Next week we are heading to Acton to invite residents for a free community event with music, food, activities and stalls of the Reduce and Recycle Hub partners. Join us now!

Equipped with head torches, working lights and a secret key to the park gates, the GoodGymers ran the streets surrounding Walpole Park and stopped in front of Pitzhanger Manor to regroup. At Rickyard's tool storage, they collected spades, mattocks, loppers, shears, thick gloves and additional assets: park volunteer hi-viz. Although no one should walk in the locked park after dark, the GoodGymers wanted to be perceived as... well, volunteers!

Chris, Sevan, Steph Ducat, and Kash returned to one of the spots where GoodGym fought off brambles last year. Some of the blackberry bushes grew back but seemed small and vulnerable in the winter, which made it a perfect time for a counterattack. Steph and Kash used their favoured weapon, the Mighty Mattock, while Sevan wielded his favourite Spartan Spade with a long shaft and an ample blade. Chris was paving the way to dig out the bramble roots, chopping the stems with Shadowy Shears. He has been very meticulous in giving the blackberries a proper trim.

"It's like I could be a barber in my other life."

The night was calm, windless and dark, with a crescent moon shining against the black, cloudless sky. Although serene, the night was not quiet. As the team worked right next to a pond, quacks and shrieks of water birds counterpointed the sounds of digging and pulling out the roots with effort. Suddenly, the GoodGymers heard the voices of strangers from the street behind the fence.

Chris walked up to a couple on their nighttime stroll. The pair was asking what on earth the GoodGymers were during at this time in the park. Chris used his diplomatic skills and years of GoodGym expertise to describe who we were and what activity we were engaged with. Kash came over and explained that Ealing GoodGymers at today's session were helping with park maintenance after dusk as they had day jobs and couldn't come earlier, then assured that their Tuesday evening sessions get less awkward in the summer. The passers-by turned out to be daily visitors to the park and thanked our team for helping keep their favoured park beautiful and safe.

With a small team we removed nearly 40% of the brambles covering selected patch and did our best to extract the roots, which in some places ran deep and were extremely stubborn. One area looked particularly wrecked, just like after a visit from a wild boar digging for his dinner!

Next week we are visiting a different park in our borough, Blondin Park, where a pile of woodchip waits to be moved. Sign up and join Steph in helping the park. Rewards? Feeling great (and hot chocolate)!

Foreman Michelle's head torch cast a strong beam of light that cut through the darkness in Walpole Park. Her team of four plunged their shovels into bottomless piles of woodchip. The woodchip was to be spread evenly around the bases of oak trees along a path - or at least that was what the team believed in.

Two floodlights and five head torches seemed like a glimmer against the pitch-black night. But Foreman Michelle could see very well whether Alan and Sevan covered the tree roots with the standard 20 cm layer of mulch and whether the amount of woodchip that Steph and Kash loaded each time into the wheelbarrow didn't exceed the acceptable health & safety regulations.

After hitting the target of 8 trees mulched, Michelle decided it was knocking-off time. The team returned the tools to the storage, cleaned the wheelbarrows and set off to their homes for rest as the next day another work shift awaited at Gunnersbury Park.

The first task after Christmas was surprisingly popular among Ealing GoodGymers. Was the Magnificent Seven, who showed up on Saturday morning, already bored with the "take-it-easy" approach to the festive end of December? The seemingly quiet air was growing tense with a silent "bring it on!" cry. A small crowd gathered near Walpole Park's cafe. Were they thirsty for a cup of coffee or for a challenge? Maybe both!

A suitable challenge awaited outside the walled garden gate: the remainder of a woodchip pile that the GoodGymers had attacked last week. All the Rickyard tool storage could offer the eager team was five wheelbarrows, four shovels and a few buckets. Oh, and - of course - the usual puzzle of opening the Fort Knox of gardening tools!

When Diana and Kash worked together to break the tool store security, Sevan spotted a new face to GoodGym Ealing. Roxy chose a perfect task for joining our crew for her first GoodGym session: a prominent location, a good crowd and a classic winter task: shovelling woodchip! Welcome to GoodGym, Roxy!

I attended my first volunteering session today, met some lovely people and we worked so well as a team to smash through the community mission! Can't wait to do more - Roxy

After picking up the tools, the team of four met the rest of the Magnificent Seven at the walled garden gate: Lena, Marta and Mohamed, who was bringing a wealth of experience from last week's session. Would the skilled shovellers, a larger team, more time for the task and Kash's constant promises of coffee make the woodchip pile disappear this time?

The eager shovels plunged into the heap, the woodchip flew into the sky, and the clangour of speeding metal wheelbarrows filled the air. The GoodGymers were on it, determined to finish off the job. There's a wealth of woodchip waiting in Ealing to be moved this winter, and the gang wouldn't have left the Walpole Park pile for yet another session! In about 40 minutes the woodchip heap was gone, and another compost bin was filled to the brim. All that was left was clearing the wheelbarrows (and shoes!) of woodchips.

With spare time earned thanks to teamwork, the gang headed for a coffee as the reward for helping the Walpole Park Ranger today.

Next Saturday morning we are heading to Horsenden Farm for the volunteering day, followed by a pizza lunch at the farm's bakery - sign up now!

When a woodchip pile gets dropped somewhere in Ealing, there is a 56.74% chance GoodGymers will find out about it. In the winter the likelihood rises to 68.5%. Just a few days before the winter solstice, the woodchipping season was in full bloom! But spreading the woodchips for mulching or creating paths was not the objective for today.

Jon, the ranger of Walpole Park, contacted us about a heap of shredded ex-trees at the park gate, next to Soane's Kitchen. Although rangers were generally happy to have the woodchip delivered, they would very much prefer to have it inside compost bins. Here is where GoodGym Ealing gets involved.

Four keen GoodGymers met after dark on Tuesday at Bodyline Fitness to make their way to Walpole Park. Sevan and Sudha decided to walk to the task destination and they made it to the gate before Mohamed and Kash who opted for a 2 km run around outside Walpole Park. Well done, walking team! Next, the crew had to clear the obstacles to reach the tools Jon had left for them: two locked gates, a lockbox and a locked door.

"This is like an escape room!" - Sudha.

It turned out that despite diligent planning, the code to one of the padlocks was not working. Kash had to use a Phone-a-Ranger Lifeline, which saved the day. Having collected the tools, the team put some flood lights on the way between the woodchip pile and the compost bins. That prevented not only walking into the glass walls of Soane's Kitchen in the dark but also helped find accidentally dropped gloves and hats.

In less than an hour, the GoodGymers filled to the brim one of three compost bins and enjoyed a good workout to shake off the winter sloth: shovelling, wheelbarrowing and lifting. The only additional thing to shake off was the woodchips caught in various layers of clothing - but that was homework.

The team did a fantastic job. The woodchip pile is still not cleared yet, so watch this space for another adventure at Walpole Park! We are pausing the Tuesday group runs until January, but look out for December tasks on other days of the week. The group runs will resume on the 7th of January - sign up now for a session to support the Reduce & Recycle Hub in Acton.