3 Goodgymers returned to help Compassionate Kenilworth with maintenance of their wildflower meadow. After initial digging and clearing of the brambles earlier in the year, unfortunately we managed to uncover lots of thistle seeds which have now run riot. Our task today was to dig up some of the thistles to give the wildflowers and other plants a chance to thrive.

After a brief warm up and short jog across Abbey Fields, we arrived at the garden with tools in hand. The first task was to double glove to avoid getting too many prickles from the thistles. This method made clearing the thistles much quicker as with some heavy rain earlier in the day, the ground was quite soft, so with a good tug the thistles and roots came out in one with minimal digging required.

Once a decent pile of thistles had built up, Lil and Katherine attempted to carry the pile over towards the back of the wildflower garden area to add to the compost pile. This involved navigating some stinging nettles but also had the added bonus of walking past (and perhaps tasting one or two) blackberries on the way back.

There are still some thistles to go but we've definitely started to make some inroads on the task now.

It was lovely to welcome Allan back after his long holiday and hear all about Lil's exciting plans for the long weekend.

4 Goodgymers returned to Compassionate Kenilworth's wildflower meadow to help with clearing some pesky thistles.

Given the warm weather, we decided to walk to the task from our meeting point and collected some gardening tools and much needed gloves on the way.

Arriving at the wildflower meadow it was lovely to see that the area we helped to clear brambles from earlier in the year was now looking much more "meadow" like, with long swaying grass and a few wildflowers that have managed to survive the heat. We spotted a few bees and other pollinators buzzing around which was lovely to see. The borders that we had originally dug near the front of the area however were somewhat difficult to make out underneath the sea of thistles!

We set to work with digging up the thistles, taking care not to disturb the flowers that were in the borders. By the end of the task, 3 of the 4 borders were now clearly visible again. We planted a few excess plants from a Goodgym member's garden into the borders and watered them in - fingers crossed they might survive in their new home. Unfortunately we didn't have time to clear all of the thistles in the area, but I'm sure we will be back again soon to finish off the job!

After the task Jackie returned home on her bike, whilst Allan, Nigel and Katherine completed a jog/walk around Abbey Fields, with the nice weather bringing out lots of local groups to enjoy the park including an outdoor yoga/Pilates class which looked a lot of fun.

Well done to Jackie who completed an 11 mile round trip on her bike to attend tonight's task.

1 Goodgymer dug deep (quite literally) to help Compassionate Kenilworth finish off the preparations for their wildflower garden.

Having dug two lovely borders last week we were now asked to do the same on the other side of the plot - because even nature appreciates symmetry!

On a beautiful sunny day Katherine slapped on the suncream and grabbed a spade and started digging. The first meter or so was relatively easy as it was in the shade and the ground was nice and soft. A quick breather part way through the first border to re-hydrate and then straight back to it - hoping to finish the task before the heat of the day became too much.

With the first larger border finished in just over an hour the race was on to see if the second border could be completed in time to head home for lunch (although a packed lunch was at hand if necessary)... Never fear, the determination to finish the task kicked in (along with Eternal's "Power of a Woman" as an earworm) and before too long the second border was created.

The first few plants of the garden were planted in the borders with the garden really starting to take shape. All preparation is now complete ready for seeds to be planted ahead of the April target - ace work from the whole team!

4 Goodgymers, along with other volunteers from Bee Friendly Kenilworth, spent another wonderfully sunny afternoon supporting Compassionate Kenilworth with the development of their wildflower garden.

Today we started by moving the piles of brambles that we cut back last week. We found the easiest way to do this was to roll the entire pile, inadvertently forming some giant bramble sausages! These were moved towards the back of the bramble area that is being kept for wildlife in order to form a compost pile.

Next it was time for some digging and thankfully the rain earlier in the week had softened the ground making our task so much easier. We dug out the roots of the brambles that we cut back last week. Once these were freed with a slight tug of war we shook off all the soil (Taylor Swift style - yes, singing was involved), collected all the roots up and carried them over to the new compost pile that had been created.

The final task was to start digging borders to the front of the area where plants donated by the local community will be planted. Everyone got stuck in and before we knew it, there were three borders looking rather reminiscent of a graveyard! We therefore decided to combine two of the borders to make it look slightly less sinister and the first plant of the project - a lovely yellow Primula - was planted in position in the newly dug borders.

Another really enjoyable afternoon and good exercise with all that digging. Looking forward to the next installment next weekend :-)

5 Goodgymers along with volunteers from Bee Friendly Kenilworth, helped Compassionate Kenilworth on a beautiful sunny afternoon with work on their new project to create a wildflower garden.

The first task to tackle was one of GoodGym's favourites - brambles!

With thick gloves and long sleeves at the ready, we split into two teams. Nigel started by clearing a path along the back of a large bramble hedge to enable a route through to the back of the area where a future compost heap will be created. This is where anything that is cut back during the creation and maintenance of the wildflower garden will be stored and rotted down. At the same time, Jo and Lil tackled a patch of brambles nearer the front of the area with loppers and secateurs, whilst Allan helped to clear the area by raking out and collecting up what had been cut.

Two hours later the task that seemed impossible at the beginning of the afternoon was accomplished, with three large piles of bramble cuttings to show for all our hard work!

It was lovely to welcome Jo along to her first Community Mission with GoodGym WLS :-)

Looking forward to next week when we can hopefully get started on turning turf for the borders ready to plant seeds and shrubs over the coming weeks.