Shear of influence

The Half Acre Field is a woodland at the foot of the Wharncliffe Viaduct in Hanwell. Looked after by the William Hobbayne Charity, the area is used by the local schools to encourage outdoor education and host wellbeing sessions for children with disabilities.

Today's group run took Steph, Sevan and Kash for a 3km run from Ealing Broadway to Brent Meadow, where they met Paul from GoodGym Hounslow, a frequent guest, who had been mesmerised by all the greenery of the Queen of the Suburbs. Together, they walked up towards the viaduct, where Christos had been guarding the footbridge over River Brent. It was great to see him back, showing up at the task, not deterred by the injury. It was the first time we saw Christos wearing tracksuit bottoms and not shorts - not in January but in July! It turned out to be a very smart choice as the rest of us ended up with our lower limbs becoming prey to mosquitos.

We walked through a path in the woodland to meet Dee of Haven Woods, the task owner. We held our hands up, terrorised by a gang of nettles growing on both sides of the footpath. Someone should have done something with those nettles... Guess who!

Dee brought us a bucket of shears which we carried to a safe location in the Secret Garden, where the activities for children with special needs and the outdoor gong baths were held. But you didn't hear anything about it from us! Our task was to cut back the nettles, brambles and thistles (all nasty stuff, right?) to allow the pedestrians safer and more comfortable passage through the woods. But the secret path to the Secret Garden was to remain a little bit overgrown to preserve a decent level of secrecy.

A few walkers thanked us for making the path more accessible, which gave us a nice, fuzzy feeling. In an hour we transformed the narrow passage into a picturesque promenade for the public, and Dee collected the litter.

It was Sevan's 700th good deed, so we couldn't finish the task in another way than celebrating that in the pub!

While we were on the way to The Viaduct, three goals were scored in tonight's game between Spain and France - and no more goals after we sat down in front of a screen in the pub - typical! We have been recognised as a regional force of doing good by The Viaduct patrons who turned out to be the Hanwell Carnival crew. Sadly, we didn't have volunteers to help them this year, but fingers crossed we'll support the carnival in 2025!

Next week we are back for more chopping at Walpole Park - sign up now! Cannot wait for another Tuesday group run? Come and join us on Saturday at Western Road for a good gardening workout, fantastic company and samosas. We have also a session in Acton this Sunday to promote a local recycling hub.