On a beautifully sunny, but chilly, morning, Georgeta , Sue and Sheila joined about 10 other volunteers at Ockwells Park for a community orchard pruning session. Rosie, one of the Rangers, took us through all the things to consider when pruning a fruit tree to enable the fruit to grow well. And then we were let loose on the trees! We divided into groups and each tackled a tree. With guidance from Rosie our confidence grew, and we piled up the cut branches under each tree. We certainly learned a lot and several of the apple trees are now in much better shape for next season. We can't wait until next autumn when we can taste the fruits of our labour!

GoodGym control to Ranger Tom... commencing mission, here come ten (of us)!

Ranger Tom to the GG crew... here's everything from hackers to shovel, and I'm ready as well.

Off we went with Ranger Tom, to get those invasive roses gone.

Bloody hard it turned out to be, but GoodGym spirit refuse to cede. Jen wouldn't stop till she hit antipode!

Rachel & Jess found the deepest root, for a twig sized rose that was barely a foot!

Gillian and Mike hacked away, Anne-Laure wouldn't back away.

Mick wielded the mattock like a man on a mission, there's no chance for the rose invasion!

Sheila, Diya and Kanika ganged (up), their mark were roots that were tangled.

GoodGym crew to Ranger Tom, we did our best, we gave it all... Ranger Tom to GG gang, it wasn't nothing and thank you all!

Lovely to see so many people turn out for another Himalayan Balsam-bashing task at Ockwells - and a big welcome to Jane who joined us for the first time!

Twelve goodgymers delved through nettles and thistles to reach the pesky balsam and remove it before it self seeded. Will and Victoria joined in the work like seasoned pros plucking, snapping and making piles of the unwanted plant. Everyone worked hard together to explore the undergrowth and weed those hard to reach areas. A satisfying task and great teamwork! Flora the dog created some much needed entertainment and distraction!

After a day of heavy rain we were truly blessed to have had the beautiful weather and stunning river views on the walk to and from our task this evening.

We met at the car park and then walked 1km to Battlemead of which some paths had already been cleared for us by Ranger Tom earlier that day, as it was heavily overgrown with large stinging nettles.

Amy showed us what the Himalayan Balsam was and we set to work by pulling out as much as we could of the invasive plant which makes it harder for other species to grow in the area.

It was very satisfying especially when we found a big one and the roots came out really easily so we didn’t need any tools.

After around 45 minutes we walked back and enjoyed the scenery once again, this time with the sun setting.

Well done everyone - keep a lookout for more of the same tasks happening soon and do sign up if you can, as there is lots to get rid of!

Three new branches of Travel-log hotels are open for business at Braywick Nature Reserve following our latest GoodGym community mission.

The beetle boutiques, which will make perfect venues for stag parties, were constructed using logs we half-buried in the soil.

We began wheely quickly, transporting enough logs for two hotels, but after some very speedy digging it was agreed that tree was indeed the magic number and a third was built next door.

Thanks to everyone who came along and logged another good deed!