137 GoodGymers have supported Bristol Parks - Friends of Dame Emily Park (DEPP) with 25 tasks.
Tuesday 22nd April 2025 6:20pm - 8:05pm
Tuesday 25th February
Written by Melanie Young (she/her)
It was great to welcome Faduma to her very first Bristol task and even better that she already knew Dame Emily Park, this evening's destination, as a lovely place in our city.
With litterpickers in hand and bags stuffed somewhere, the running group set off, led by Vaguely Northern Darren and the walkers sort of led by Melanie until we realised we were walking to ASDA instead of the park so had taken a slightly longer route - but all because we were chatting away and having "fun" on the walk (and it did mean I completed one more street for my City Strides account in Bristol).
We met up with Ursula and family in the park, having already collected a few pieces of litter on the paths and then set about finding as much as we could, recycling separated from rubbish, plus a dog bowl that apparently is left out for visiting four-legged friends. The skate park was surprisingly good for recycling but not nearly so much other litter.
We've been helping out at the park for a few years now and it was lovely to see snowdrops and crocus flower springing (see what I did there?) from the ground, it was the first time Harsheh had seen crocuses (crocii?), he's going to LOVE Spring. He arrived for the start of the academic year so hasn't yet experienced a full years of seasons here and GoodGym is such a good way to see nature.
Lots of chat and 5 bags of goodies for Bristol Waste to collect, we headed up to the community garden for Ursula's lovely blackcurrant tea and homemade rye flour and goat butter cookies (or ginger nuts and rich tea when the homemade ones had run out. On the way, we spotted a TV antenna that had been brought to the park (why?!) and added that to our other finds for Bristol Waste to collect from behind the sunflower tile - always a good way to make sure they can't miss it!
Back at Workout, pots of tea, hot chocolate and other favoured drinks in hand, even more chat continued, weather was discussed, football was on the TV and a lovely time was had by all - same time, same place for another task next week?
Tuesday 4th February
Written by Melanie Young (she/her)
It was a lovely, dry evening to celebrate Ed's 50th good deed and imminent new t-shirt - congratulations!
Back at Dame Emily Park for emergency bulb planting, the tyres moved previously had been stacked as planters and filled most of the way with compost.
Our task was to get the bags of sprouting bulbs into the tyre-planters, right way up, then top-up with woodchip and hide some small bulbs in the top. Much carrying of buckets of woodchip and avoidance of buckets of manure (destined for the raised planters) getting mixed up - top science knowledge from Richard B.
Planters filled, we still had more bulbs so started planting around the wicker dome we lovingly tie new growth into - this time the bulbs were going into grass so some L-shaped lawn-lifting was deployed to hide a bulb each time. Or throw them at Richard G.
We saturated the grass with our bulbs and time was nearly up so it was time for Polish wafers from Ursula, end of task photos (we did enjoy it, honestly!) and off back to Queen Square for GoodGym Eats at Suyuan, stopping off at the off-licence for those who wanted to BYO alcohol.
Much food and after some flowering bulb knowledge shared with Harsheh, we were on our ways home, with one GoodGymmer declaring she was rushing to get home as she was on an early shift tomorrow, until Frances saw there was no queue at the Bristol Light Festival swings and she was off in a flash.
Special thanks to Vaguely Northern Darren for run leading (no-one mention bulbs), Caroline for back-marking and Jason for beating me to Workout to meet other GoodGymmers as they arrived.
Sunday 3rd November 2024
Written by Melanie Young (she/her)
It was the end-of-year party at the Dame Emily Park Project which meant some litter picking and weeding before enjoying the live music, mulled apple juice and fire-warmed sausages whilst checking out the pond’s amazing fence, HUGE bug hotel development and general loveliness.
Tuesday 22nd October 2024
Written by Bristol runner
Listen up, y'all, 'cause this is it.
The beat that I'm bangin' is delicious.
Frogalicious, definition make them goodgymers go loco.
They want my treasure, so they get their pleasures from my pond yo.
You could see me, you can't squeeze me.
I ain't easy, I ain't waiting in my pond see.
I got reasons why I tease 'em.
Goodgymers just come and go like seasons.
Frogalicious (definitely not delicious).
Word to your mother.
(we also did some planting and made a fence but really hard to fit into the song!)
Tuesday 17th September 2024
Written by Melanie Young (she/her)
It was a Great Moon, but was it really a Super Moon?
Our regular corner of Queen Square was a bit congested with filming happening nearby AGAIN (Young Sherlock?) and we even had our own security guards who were Very Chatty Indeed. Not convinced it was just the caffeine from the Monster can talking...
We set off for a lovely sunny walk or run to Dame Emily Park with lots of other people out and about enjoying the warm evening. Melanie found a phone before we'd even left the square, and that will shortly be posted off to it's owner who'd been on a visit day to Bristol from Swindon. Obviously the phone preferred Bristol, who wouldn't?
The next find was a highland cow badge, but like Jason by the M Shed, it set my camera focus to "obscure" to avoid publicity.
At the park, the runners had just beaten the walkers and Ursula was explaining the wildlife work of the evening - cutting back an overgrown hedge that was also home to a tall sycamore trying to take over, finding the bulbs and rescuing the pollen-y plants that had been trampled, clearing the tarmac waster, salvaging the wood and digging over another trampled flower bed and having loads of fun in the process.
And we created a new job of transforming the fallen sycamore into whips that can be used to weave a low level wildlife-friendly hedge around the pond (which, I stress, no one fell into).
As the lovely sunlight faded, the moon was looking HUGE and we later discovered it was a Super Moon - but we liked it before we knew it had a posh name. We loved the lemon and ginger tea and biscuits Ursula had carried over with her, and offered to help put away all the tools but we think Ursula may have wanted some peaceful time to enjoy the Super Moon herself, and probably wanted everything put away in the right places...
Off we trotted, walking and running back to Queen Square and saw the security guards had moved a bit and it was different guards on duty so we snuck past them and headed on to Workout where we avoided being dragged into the Speed Dating and the Liverpool supporters were sad when AC Milan scored in the third minute. But all came good in the end.
Tuesday 20th August 2024
Written by Melanie Young (she/her)
There's been lots of construction at Dame Emily Park where the Community Garden now has concreted raised beds instead of rotting planters and they've taken the opportunity to sift soil to remove the big- and medium-size stones. With mushroom boxes over buckets to keep it real.
With a team on the main stone-removing, a second team on the in-planter stone removing and a third team weeding, boarding and mulching the berry plants, it was all systems go in the fading sunshine with everyone trying to keep warm.
Discussions included whether slo-mo would make the soul-sifting more action-packed and what music was appropriate for a speeded-up version and whether the Benny Hill theme tune was a saxophone. Full marks to Frances for knowing Yackety Sax.
Azzurra and Janka had made short work of the berry-mulching and, with full protection gloves, set about feeding the nettle soup with more lovely chopped nettles.
The soil-sifters had soon worked through enough soil to have topped up the first planter, with Vaguely Northern Darren and Caroline from the running group working in situ whilst Robin raked and taught them both some German, or Italian, or both.
The soil was then covered in cardboard weighted down with bricks and, because we're super-resourceful, the big stones from the soil sifting. Meanwhile, the medium-sized stones were making a path to the resources shed under the careful eyes of Bruce and Jason with Roddy and Marianne maximising the sifting-per-second speed.
With the work (almost) done, we enjoyed Ursula's refreshments - Blackberry juice and biscuits - and the empty wheelbarrow that had worked hard.
As Vaguely Northern Darren had hurt his back during the task, everyone decided to walk and talk back to Queen Square and onwards to sitting outside at Workout as there was speed dating going on, which we tried not to disrupt - honest!
See you all at the next one - Wednesday lunchtime, Wednesday evening, Friday morning,Bank Holiday Monday or next Tuesday.
Loading...