This Tuesday, 10+ of the GoodGym Brighton crew ran, cycled and walked over to Lavender House for a full perimeter clear-up. Headtorches on, we weeded, detangled and plucked our way through the edges of the building, filling up multiple wheelbarrows for compost and giving the outside a noteworthy November glow-up.

Jane had a moment of magic finding a red admiral butterfly and having it stay still on her hand long enough for a photo and a video. A flash of summer in a little bit of a November drizzle!

Also on this week's GoodGym Brighton’s wildlife watch: an honourable shout out to the many ‘bench bugs’ we had to yank coats and jackets away from, and a healthy, stocked-for-winter looking worm. Christophe’s ‘bright’ idea to light our group photo with headtorches gave us a more sinister, ghostly energy than our normal group shots, but it’s not been too long since Halloween so I think we got away with it.

Weeds tackled and all equipment returned, a few of us ran over the road to the Sidewinder for some burritos and much-needed trail run chat.

It is that time of the year when our friend Stuart from the Friends of Palmeira and Adelaide reaches GoodGym Brighton for some Autumnal conservation of the community green spaces in Palmeira Square. Despite the chill air temperatures of this week Tuesday evening, 10 brave heart GoodGymers cycled and run to our weekly task, where Stuart, the lead gardener Jan and the lovely Andrea welcomed us with garden tools ready for some speedy (and warming up) raking action in the outdoors.

Have you ever raked wet leaves from a city park? Like (or even better than) exercising with a Power Tower Gym – Rachel’s quote, enabling you to perform functional exercises that are the most efficient and effective training regimen out there. With this powerful piece of equipment, you would be able to perform 4 major kinds of workouts, namely, Chin-ups, Press-ups, Dips and Vertical Knee Raises.

We managed to rake 4 big bags of green waste, 2 tons plus of minus, which will be collated in the new composting area enabling to recycle food and green waste separately, to close the biological cycle and produce lovely compost to regenerate new grass for the park next spring.

We welcomed returning new members Amy and Dagdas, and lovely Sarah who is commuting every week from PeaceHaven to what has now become her regular weekly appointment with GoodGym! Tell your friends WHAT's ON at GoodGym Brighton.

Two runners set out from the low floodplain of the river Ouse up four chalk brows — a single lane road to Telscombe Tye reservoir, tracks skirting the fields of Saltdean dip and up to Pickers Hill, windswept grassland to the smock mill at Beacon Hill, and finally past a decidedly orderly Ovingdean Hall Farm through East Brighton Golf course, dropping into (currently sheep-free) Sheepcote valley and to The George where foaming pints awaited.

History was found in the middle — a bomb crater, the knapped flint- faced obelisks of Kipling’s walled gardens, a local croquet lawn, and two dear ancient volunteers opened the doors of the Grange museum for us - just across from where Kipling quilled his imaginative tales of Lamarckian adaptation in the Just So Stories.

Stimulated good chats of travels, spreading the English language and noble endeavours on a bright if chilly Sunday.

Thank God there’s sunshine after the rain — I can work outdoors without getting wet. First of all, I trimmed the shrub exactly to the dimensions and style that Ms. S requested. Then, I tried to dismantle the old wooden rack that had been placed on the raised bed for six years. It took longer than I expected because I had to deal with some stubborn, rusty screws using only a screwdriver and my bare hands. After that, there were only about 15 minutes left, so I did my best to remove the weeds (except the holly leaves) on the left side of the raised bed. I think it will need one more visit (Part 3) to complete all the requested tasks.

It was a little bit windy in the willows this morning when we arrived but that made this community task all the more necessary for our lovely neighbour. Primed with tea and choccy biscuits we were more than ready to tackle the task.
It was a swift hike up to the loft to get the winter duvet, then bed was prepared together with favourite teddy's.
We then braced the elements and set to work on the garden. Leaves, leaves and more leaves, together with fir needles and sycamore samaras in abundance. Our neighbour was so very happy with our work, by the end we even got her gnomes smiling now that's what we call a sweeping success :)

Ms S used to keep her raised bed nice. Unfortunately, her legs got some issues that she can't access it to do maintenance for 2 years. She has showed me some old photos of her raised bed which was really clean & neat. Then, I followed her guidances to remove the weeds, trimming the overgrown shrubs and packing the garden waste as requested. Due to the fact that the tasks are more than expected, I guest another visit is needed in order to finish it. It would be great if 2 GoodGymers can go together next round as I found it is very difficult for her to dismantle the old wooden rack placed on this raised bed.