Bristol Parks - Friends of Dame Emily Park (DEPP)

Making Dame Emily Park even better

135 GoodGymers have supported Bristol Parks - Friends of Dame Emily Park (DEPP) with 21 tasks.


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Melanie Young
Melanie Young (she/her)
Bristol runner
Bristol runner

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BristolGroup run
+5
Roddy BlackEd NewmanVaguelyNorthernDarrenKim DowsettAzzurraCiaran Scurr

New (Super) Moon on Tuesday

Tuesday 17th September

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.

  • The hedge was soon looking smaller (I'm not sure about tidier...), with some high wielding of long-handed shears and loppers by Caroline, Vaguely Northern Darren, Ed and Jason
  • Ciaran took the saw to sort out the sycamore and was joined by Marianne who relinquished her colour-matched secateurs to make sure the big branches weren't falling too far from the tree
  • A few bulbs and some salvaged plants were set aside by Azzurra and Kim and the soil sieved to remove errant rocks
  • A big pile of wood emerged from the tarmac and rocks and neither Richard nor Roddy fell in the small pond - the wood will be great for making the bug and hedehog hotels

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.

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BristolGroup run
+3
AzzurraRoddy BlackBruce SawyerVaguelyNorthernDarrenJanka

The sifting soil of thyme

Tuesday 20th August

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.

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BristolGroup run
+5
CarolinePhill StoneDavid HeadJanka
Valè Pico

Dame Emi-lolly Park heatwave

Tuesday 25th June

Written by Melanie Young (she/her)

Hot. Very Hot. The walkers outnumbered the runners but Vaguely Northern Darren was everyone's best friend when he arrived with boxes of mini Calippo to share out. Ursula was ready for us, the runners arriving first by more time than usual as the walkers were held up with a bridge swing at Princes Street Bridge, holding us up from making a wildlife bridge to encourage creatures transitting the city.

We split into Team Dead Hedge and Team Watering with TDH annihilating a live hedge which will form the basis of a dead hedge at low level and allowed to be a live hedge above. This was made possible by much "skilled pruning" and an ambitious movement of a dumpy sack full of sticks from one side of the 5-foot wire fence to the other by managing to lift and balance it on a wheelbarrow - welcome to GoodGym, Bruce!

The detail watering of shrubs along a new hedge line (a live hedge line, this one, not a dead hedge line) was completed speedily so it was on with tying in willow to the willow dome (decidedly unshady in its youth but hopefully a bit more shady next year!) and the invention of GG Bristol's Willow Club, complete with matching tying-in bracelets - rocking the look, Danica, and Darren.

TDH were also going great guns with the dumpy sack of twigs added to the greenery chopped from the live hedging and the pallets brutally kicked apart by Phill and skillfully shoved down by Caroline, Richard, Paul, David, Jason, Janka, Marianne and Frances. The team soon moved on to creating a sacrificial mud pie zone (or maybe a rockery) by layering cardboard then soil brought down from the top of the park, surrounded by a stone circle in a nod to the Summer Solstice.

Great work, team, and thanks for the drinks and biscuits!

Back in time for the match, which wasn't worth it!

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BristolCommunity mission
Melanie Young

Cheep rent

Monday 25th March

Written by Melanie Young (she/her)

Lots of bird boxes constructed by the kids at Dame Emily Park (and a few of the parents) so the small birds can have new social housing for cheep rent!

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BristolGroup run
+6
TimDereckArronSkylar SharplesKatie ThomasVaguelyNorthernDarren

DEPP and the GBBO for GGB

Tuesday 28th November 2023

Written by Melanie Young (she/her)

I think winter's arrived. At about 1905 on Tuesday 29th November.

It was all fun and games, GoodGymmers arriving in shorts, welcoming chit chat then running or walking over to Dame Emily Park for a spruce up before we all spruce up our homes for Christmas*, armed with trusty litter pickers including David HeadTorch trialling his new foldy uppy litter pickers (FULPs) and Bristol Waste bags to fill.

There was very little big litter so we were able to spot all sorts of smaller-see-through litter with our (not always) powerful lights. Obviously this led to a hugely fun game of "Leaf or Litter", one of our favourite past times.

And then, all of a sudden, it got very cold and the choice of fitness session or longer run/walk back was given, the latter being the seemingly unanimous choice. Bags were joined to make a single bag of lots of little litter, pickers were put back in the Great Big Bag and off everyone was about to set when Jason, carrier of the Great Big Bag, produced packs of brownies and flapjacks to celebrate his 300th good deed - Hooray! Everyone warmed up a bit and was fuelled for the run/walk back with the walkers carrying the diminishing supply of celebratory cake and the Great Big Bag because we're good like that.

For maybe the first time ever, the walkers were back in Queen Square before the runners and decided it was too cold to wait for the runners, still a mile away, so did their end of group run gubbins, returned the Great Big Bag to the receptionist/cupboard-in-the-cupboard-in-the-cupboard and made for the bar to order a big pot of tea, in theory for two but actually containing SIX cups of very nice tea indeed. And Paul ordered a pint on something very cold, despite being cold himself, having joined the walkers back as he has another marathon this weekend - pink panther is already dressed as an elf but hadn't been allowed to come along as its too early for elves.

The runners returned with their rosy cheeks (on their faces, at least) and joined the GG tables and then, in one of the greatest achievements of her life to date, Melanie persuaded Club Haus in Workout to have the footie on only one TV and the GBBO final on the other, thus introducing GGers who had so far avoided the feel-good-or-sometimes-bad TV show to its gloriousness. And misinterpretation of the Signature Bake as Viennetta Fingers, which would have been Viennese Fingers except they were éclairs. Which led is down the regular GG Bristol discussion of Chris Lewis and general love if the Walls Viennetta. Other ice-cream desserts are available, but not as nice. And so closed another fabulous group run where Clo reminded us all that even though some of us may not have wanted to come along, we were all glad we did.

  • is that where the phrase cones from? Spruce up your home with a Christmas spruce tree? Now spruce looks wrong when i write it or say it. Rabbit hole created...
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BristolGroup run
+2
Jason ThornePhill StoneDavid HeadVaguelyNorthernDarren

Crying, "Goggles and muscles, alive, alive, oh"

Tuesday 22nd August 2023

Written by Melanie Young (she/her)

Molly Malone would be proud - not quite cockles and mussels but goggles and muscles to be found at Dame Emily Park on a Tuesday evening.

We were rewarded with a gorgeous setting sun as the running group and then the walkers were searching out the litter in the main park and attached skate park, with its Bristol street art.

It was great to have the opportunity to chat to each other as we ventured all across the park, including finding a stash of blackberries in a dubious corner of the skate park.

Four rubbish bags and two recycling bags later, we played a quick game of hide and seek in the apple trees now established across the road for our photo finish before returning to Queen Square and on to workout for a riverside drink and bizarre conversation to round off the evening - do bells bong or clang?

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