Tuesday 5th November 2019
Report written by Paul Salman
Eleven good gym runners ran to help at Saint Mary‘s Church Finchley. A grade 2 listed building and one of the oldest if not the oldest building in Barnet with elements built from 16th century. We started off at the phoenix cinema (another building which is one of the oldest of its type in the country) gathering to chat , number up and state our favourite superhero. Jody won the day by revealing that her dad was a superhero. (Looks like she’s blown his cover but at least Barnet can sleep easy tonight!) There was a gentle drizzle to start but otherwise a nice night to hit the back streets of East Finchley by winding our way through quite roads and alleys. We stopped briefly to gather for a sprint up a short uphill section of alleyway. We reach the church dead on time to meet Helen who was waiting with tools to do the job in hand. We were to clear the path around the church of leaves and weeds. We set to work and in a short time had collected four garden bags which we loaded into Helens car. Helen then took some time to show us around the church and talk about its history, this included showing us some markings from the Norman era of the church! We also gathered around a church poster of Agnes ( one of our own runners) who had run the Eden half marathon for charity. A nice coincidence! ( see photo) We then started a more direct route back to the Phoenix escorted by a deluge of bangs and flashes. I chatted with Abdul who was telling me how much his fitness had improved by joining GGB. Indeed in todays news a vast study had proven a correlation between one run a week and improving life expectancy. Check it out Here Tell your friends! We soon returned to the Phoenix and had to sadly say goodbye to Marie on her last run with GGB before returning to France. Thank you for bring the crepes and Bon voyage!
Thanks for coming you were super heroes tonight!
Ps Two Christmas party dates for you Goodgym 6th ( party) 11th December ( GGB social meal) Let us know if you can make one or both!
he church was established sometime in the 12th century. There is reference to a church here in 1274, and evidence of a building even before then. By 1356 it was dedicated to St Mary.[2] The building has been altered many times since its foundation and the oldest parts, the north wall and the tower (which seems to have had a steeple during the 16th and 17th centuries), date from the reign of King Henry VII.
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It will help make the reservoir cleaner and safer for visitors and the many plants, birds and animals that live there.