Twenty-one GoodGymmers - including a Birthday Boy and Girl - went to Manor Valley Woods to meet Martin for one of their work days. They've been reclaiming the old brickworks at the edge of the park from brambles with a plan to turn it into a wildflower meadow with an orchard. We've been out a couple times and it's lovely to see how much work has been done.

We helped out by digging up bramble roots, snipping back nettles, and David and Phil sawed up some pallets for signs. Tom got his hands on the Root Assassin and we got Raphael wielding a spade on his first group run.

This patch of land is a Slow Worm habitat and Martin and the others are cutting back brambles on the sunny slope to expand it so that more can be introduced. Slow Worms are a protected species, they are a rare legless lizard native to the UK and are coming out of hibernation now. We were able to peek at a few under their warming mats. You can read more about them here: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/reptiles/slow-worm

We ran back to Mud Dock for some much appreciated birthday cake. Happy Birthday to Zdeni and David (thank you for baking)!