Biggest turn out of the year so far and oh what joy to start and finish in the light - dry and not freezing cold, has spring really arrived?

We welcomed new member Serena to the group, she and I had a good chat on the 3k ish jog to our picking site. It was a model GoodGym run tonight, everyone in pairs chatting away.

Up along the Great Central Way, through the posh flats and out onto the canal, Stu initiated a snake down the disabled ramp and roundly berated the leader for short cutting down the steps.

We made our way down stream to the bridge at Bede Park where Mel met up with us. We divided into two teams and chose a side. Team Lindsay picked right as it turned out to be much scruffier their way. Stu seemed to be a litter magnet and definitely won the award for the biggest bag of rubbish.

At times it was difficult to see the teams as they were burrowed deep into the undergrowth striving to get that last juicy bit of litter. I managed to rescue a full size traffic cone from the embankment which would have made a great megaphone for calling everyone back together had it not been too heavy to lift.

Once again, in just 30 short minutes we had filled several bags with litter.

After a quick warm up of 3 circuits of the ramp from the river to the road we headed for Bede Park to check out the outdoor Gym.

We spent about 15 minutes in pairs using the various exercise machines, a lot of the time the chuckle muscle was the one receiving the most exercise. There was a look of puzzlement on the face of the few youths who were also using the park. When Jim sparked up with his rendition of "The wheels on the bus" I knew that we had lost the plot for tonight!! - Seriously though, in between the laughter everyone had a real good go at the machines, I think Stu would have been quite happy for another circuit as he and Frank seemed to be having a whale of a time.

We finished up with a warm down jog of Bede Park then Mel suggested an impromptu litter pick on the way back to base. We got an idea for a new game for future weeks, working in teams to rescue discarded cans with litter pickers from the wrong side of the fence - should be a laugh, I will have to sort out some prizes !!!