There was a definite chill in the air this time as the GoodGym Richmond team gathered with the Friends of Ham Lands for our monthly mission.

A small but hardy group of five met up with Sharon and her gang and awaited instructions. The instructions, to nobody’s great surprise, were to tackle a patch of bramble.

We armed ourselves with loppers, shears and secateurs and got to work, making good progress against our spiky foes.

Excitement arose when Ken asked for Chris’s help some way from the main group. At Ken’s request, Chris climbed up a tree and sawed off a branch, which was overhanging a small sapling and blocking its light.

As usual Sharon had come with provisions and we called time for cups of tea and coffee with biscuits, very welcome on the cold morning. Then we said our goodbyes and headed off for Saturday plans.

To celebrate World Habitats Day, Monika and JP from GG Richmond joined the Friends of Ham Lands for their regular monthly meet up to help preserve the beautiful habitats of the Ham lands which we are so lucky to have close to our homes.

Leader Sharon was there as always to brief the troops and we were assigned to litter picking alongside her while others went to different areas looking for litter or cutting back brambles.

In general, the people who enjoy the Ham Lands aren’t big time litter bugs - they don’t drop much rubbish on the open pathways, and many are conscientious enough to pick up what other people drop. But there is always litter to be found off the beaten path, so we went into the woods to seek out discarded trash.

Before too long we made substantial finds, in areas which might have been used for makeshift shelters or camps. Here we found large plastic sheets - the decomposing remains of bin liners - along with tobacco packaging, bottles, paper rubbish and even the rusting head of a discarded space (which itself proved useful in digging out rubbish which had started to be covered up and absorbed by the soil).

In the end we filled 3 bags and returned for tea and biscuits, to find more bags filled by the other volunteers. Seeing the amount we had collected together was very rewarding.

Next month’s mission is scheduled for Saturday 9th November - you can sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-the-happy-ham-landers-863d2ee9-aa6d-4146-a9f0-c8c259d6ed76

It was a beautiful day on the Ham Lands, fresh but warm and sunny, as 6 GGers gathered for our monthly session with the Friends of Ham Lands.

Much like last month, the task was to clear an area around a tree of brambles and tree suckers. We got stuck in with our loppers and filled multiple big canvas sacks which were dragged off to be emptied in the composting area in the woods.

Our reward for our efforts came in a lovely cup of tea, Jaffa cakes and Tunnocks caramel wafers - as well as the feeling of starting the weekend doing some good!

Seven Richmond GGers gathered at on Riverside Drive on a warm Saturday morning for our monthly mission to maintain the natural habitat of the Ham Lands for the benefit of flora, fauna and the folks who love to spend time there.

As usual Sharon was there with a group of the Friends of Ham Lands, and gave our briefing. This time, our task was to clear the area around an apple tree of brambles, and cut down a patch of sycamore suckers growing nearby.

Now GG Richmond members are not strangers to brambles and we know their ways. But this session’s enemy was up for the fight - fielding some of the longest, thickest and spikiest specimens of their number in their bid to hold their territory.

No match for us or the new tools supplied by Sharon though. We set to work, cutting swathes through the enemy and piling them up ready to be bagged and dragged to a nearby compost area.

Of course we bore the scars of the campaign, with plenty of yelps signalling another casualty in the form of a scratch to a leg or an arm left uncovered in the warm weather. But the battle scars only made us more proud of the victory. Our efforts also paid off with the discovery of a plant not seen in several years!

The sycamores put up less resistance, and will go on to serve the community by adorning a fence recently built from larger, thicker branches.

Our next session on the Ham Lands is here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-the-happy-ham-landers-bd191a17-5b00-42da-ae77-5a8eed086ac4

The morning was cool and pleasant as 4 GG Richmond regulars met up with Sharon and the gang for some good-doing on the Ham Lands.

Today was all about ridding two areas of brambles and tree suckers, which we set to doing with lopped and secateurs. We gathered the cuttings in big canvas sacks which were then emptied into the compost area inside the woods.

It was a very pleasant morning’s work, finished with a lovely cup of tea, and we were on our way to enjoy the weekend!

Another Saturday = another trip to the glorious green space that is Ham Lands. This one saw Rosie, Adam, Chris and Sam tackling aggressively-growing clematis about 100m in from the path along Riverside Drive. While it can be enjoyed in small, carefully grown quantities, clematis is a fast-growing climbing plant which either takes support from the vegetation or trees that it climbs, or spreads as thick ground cover, taking over large areas and out-competing many species - credit Dynamic Dunescapes for the description.

Meanwhile Sabina, on her first task with GoodGym, tackled offshoots from a nearby cherry tree (aka suckers).

After about 90 minutes of gardening in topsy turvy weather we'd earned a coffee and snack from the marvellous Swiss Bakery.