The morning stormy weather might have put in question the afternoon session at Bixley Field Allotments. Two GoodGymers, who had already made plans to visit the community allotment in Southall on Sunday, stuck to their timetable and showed up at the main entrance around 2 pm: Clare holding an umbrella and Kash in a rain jacket in which she had run to the task, jumping over puddles on the towpath.

Both GoodGymers were positively surprised that today's session was - believe it or not - held in a dry, covered place, sheltered from the elements. Bixley had recently received a donation of timber which was going to be used to build raised beds for people in wheelchairs so that they could engage in food growing. But who was going to build the beds?

Adel and Jason (Jay) from the Bixley allotment crew were hiding from rain and wind in a polytunnel kindly made available to them by the owner of a neighbouring plot. The two had almost finished constructing the short sides of the raised beds when Clare and Kash arrived. It was the perfect timing for engaging two extra pairs of hands - the team was about to assemble the full-sized beds.

Adel teamed up with Kash to finish attaching the most stubborn wood pieces to hold together the shorter sides of the beds. After a good amount of troubleshooting: changing the screws, screwing in and unscrewing them, trying pre-drilling, changing drill size, breaking one drill, and pre-drilling on both sides of planks, they eventually got the pieces of the puzzle together. It would have been probably much easier if all the planks were of the same thickness and hardness, but in reality, the donated timber came in different sizes and varieties of wood and the volunteers worked with what they got.

The next step was to attach the long planks to the sides, so Clare paired with Jay to balance what Adel and Kash were doing on their flank. Two sets of people on each side, two drills - perfect! The assembly went quickly and two raised beds were soon constructed. The Bixley team got one step closer to making the allotment more accessible. On their next volunteering Sunday, Adel, Jay and Gurpal will be aiming to strengthen one of the beds with additional support on the side, get the beds outside and fill them with soil.

It was a fun and impactful session where GoodGymers not only did something for the community but expanded their knowledge and skills - Kash learned some good DIY tips from Adel and Clare was amazed at how much gardening experience Jay was able to share with her, despite herself being already a seasoned plot holder.

We will be back in Southall in February to support a different food-growing hub - Western Road Urban Garden. Sign up for the next session now and stay tuned for more events at Bixley too!

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.