The Friends of Danesmead Wood had a selection of tasks ready for us this morning - only slightly hampered by the fact that a few of the wheelbarrows we were going to use had been returned to their owners a little prematurely.

That didn't stop our creative bunch getting to work using spades, rakes and, in Antonia's case, feet to sweep aside detritus left behind from the recent flooding to clear the wood-side footpath and make room for a fresh layer of woodchip.

Once the ground prep had been done, we got to work on shoveling some slightly soggy woodchip. Paul Kelly and Louise quickly re-purposed their rakes to loosen the pile, making the shoveling a much easier job.

Shortly before a tea break, Jude requested some help with the relocation of a bug hotel. After a brief debate about who was least worried by the potential creepy crawlies, Leanne, Ben, Antonia and Tay (who bravely cast aside her fear of bugs to help out) trekked up the hill to find a rather luxury (and thankfully empty) bug hotel. They lifted it onto a trolley which Ben pulled further up the hill to the new location.

A quick refuel, involving Jude's delicious Rocky Road, gave us enough energy to distribute the rest of the woodchip down the path in the last 20 minutes of the task. Then all that remained was a leisurely cafe stop to brainstorm the run report pun - in the end Ben came up with the winning entry!