Five GoodGymers swapped their Saturday morning lie in this week for a new challenge working alongside the National Trust to build a natural, living hedge! Andy and I met slightly earlier to follow Meyrick on a short 3km run up the hill from Cleveland Walk to the task location on the Bath Skyline. This was a tough but rewarding workout to start the weekend off!

Once the three of us had successfully reached the summit and arrived at the Skyline location we were joined by Ellie and Emily. We were tasked with continuing to construct a natural, living hedge which provides a sustainable and friendly habitat for local wildlife such as small birds and removes the need for other fencing.

Following a handy demonstration from the super friendly National Trust ranger on how to use a billhook and how to effectively cut the trees so that they could collapse in the correct way without splintering, we split into two groups and got to work on extending the hedge. Even with a small group of us and not too much time, we were able to make noticeable progress, and it will be nice to return in a few weeks to see how the hedge has continued to grow since!

We met outside a pub at 0815 on a Sunday morning. To the casual observer we might have looked a little keen for a tipple. But alas, we were actually gearing up for a run up a steep 1 mile hill to Odd Down junior parkrun instead.

Meyrick our run leader talked through the introductions and we were off. The faster of us, looped back to sweep the back in the aim to keep us together. But to be fair, walking was probably as fast as running in this case as the hill was super steep.

Up and up we went, until eventually we reached a plateau and the sign for Odd down cycle circuit was in touch. We arrived warm! and ready for our marshal briefing. 7 of us reported into duty so we could double up at marshal points and create more cheer for the children. 34 children took part with many parents accompanying. The fastest completed the 2km course in an ultra impressive time of 6 minutes 57 seconds. We assumed our positions until the tail walker swept us up and walked us back to the start.

And now, the fun part. The group ran back down the steep hill back to the pub!