John: On arrival, I was asked whether I knew anything about gardening. “I just do what I’m told”, I answered, based on my GoodGym experiences. Still. I was trusted to remove anything dead from a large area, which resembled a low-growing forest. But how do I know what’s dead, I wondered. This turned out to be simple – anything dry and crinkly, falling on its side or just looking limp. I soon discovered there were a lot of deceased plants, or more often parts of plants, in the undergrowth and the overgrowth. Two hours flew by, and there was more I could have done, but I had other plans, and anyway we’ll undoubtedly be back next month.

Emily: I spent an hour and filled about 5 bags of dead vegetation for the compost. As always the Penn Road volunteers were lovely and came round multiple times offering tea and biscuits!