Wednesday 13th March 2019
Report written by Ant Withstandley
Tonight's task was back to the lovely St Mary's Churchyard in Walthamstow. We have made a good few visits to this beautiful place in Walthamstow village, and we have made a significant improvement to the churchyard and the surrounding area. Tonight's task was continuing to barrow compost from the churchyard to a community garden nearby on Prospect Hill.
Some of our regulars were kept away with work, illness and childcare tonight but it was lovely to welcome a fantastic four of Fergus, Ros, Francis and Raymond along tonight. Our green-fingered contact, Tim, met us on sight to help us get going on the task. Fortunately, there was the same number of barrows as there were people and collectively the crew covered a good few miles with wheelbarrows full of mulch transporting it from the compost to a newly planted flower bed in the community garden.
After a decent workout with the barrow, we packed away our tools and went to my favourite triangle for some slow medium and fast laps around St Mary's graveyard. I usually count laps and watch everyone else work up a sweat with the temperature dropping and my feet feeling chilly; I decided to join in. I have to say it is a lot harder than I thought and Francis and Fergus pummeled me on the fast laps!
After posing for a few photos and brewing up a nice idea to celebrate a future GoodGym milestone (more on that soon), we headed back to base and a decent glass of 0.5% ABV Stout for Francis, Raymond and me.
Big love for showing up tonight guys, you a rock. ☮️
The churchyard contains numerous interesting graves and four listed tombs, and is divided into four railed and enclosed areas with public access to only two; it is bisected by paths which are in frequent public use. There are some 1300 visible monuments in and around the church, and it is thought that over 26,000 burials took place here. The first church of St Mary Walthamstow was founded in the early-12th century on the site of an older church. The current building is largely 16th-century with later alterations. The timber-framed Ancient House near the church probably stands on the site of the original Manor of Walthamstow.
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