A couple of glorious GoodGymers set out to pick up all of the litter they could manage in the space of an hour, which is a lot as all folk know who know owt about GoodGym members' litterpicking abilities.

There were a lot of loud roadworks going on on the A6133/ Broadway which made chatting somewhat difficult but we managed somehow.

We had a competition to see who could find the 'best' bit of rubbish... James had slim pickings with the best item being a colourful flashy vape pen. Kate didn't find much noteworthy either. Along the same lines as the vape she found a full bottle of an energy drink. Both items surely aimed dubiously at the younger audience. Who won best find of the night?!? We'll have to find an external adjudicator!

More haste, less waste!

Whilst picking on one of the large grass verges at the top of Racecommon Road we were approached by a couple of people who had lost a key somewhere on the grass. We agreed to scour the area and let them know if we came across them. Sadly no lost items were located, just the usual bits of misplaced waste. After this area was clear the next and last area on the cards was the wasteland just a tad further along. Here we were graciously thanked by a walker who was impressed by our efforts. I gave them information about GoodGym and encouraged them to join us in future... always recruiting me!!!

After a good hour of picking and with bags-a-bulging we each searched out a bin to deposit our bits into before callingh it a day and heading back to stretch off. We were lacking the purple sacks (that you can leave next to bins to be picked up without it being logged as flytipping) tonight so had to fit all of the rubbish picked up into roadside bins.

Tonight we trotted off to treasure hunt rubbish on the backstreets of southwestern Barnsley. The weather had been drizzly all day, but between our window of 1845 and 2000 the rain held off. After running for a few minutes we stopped our run at Clarendon St and unpacked all of the litterpicking equipment from our rucksacks. Along Blenheim Road we bobbed and weaved inbetween cars, nimbly plucking sweet wrappers, cigarettes and drinks containers from betwixt.

There was rather a lot of smashed glass down some of the gennels (jitties, snickets, jennels etc) in tiny fragments which required both patience and precision to pick.

A notable hiding place for litter that we stumbled upon continually throughout the evening was behind electricity junction boxes on the corners of streets. There is a gap of 4-5 inches behind these which is a great size for collecting cans, bottles, mud, moss and grit. There were layers of these items and the <5 inch gap also made it very awkward to fit a litterpicker into to grip around the items at appropriate angles, even for the most experienced handlers of pickers. Rubbish retrieval in these seldom cleared trash canyons turned out to be akin to archeology, digging through the dirt to find ancient rusted up cans of New Coke- lots of work for little pay off! At least we'll know they are clear and the rubbish now won't get a chance to dislodge during future storms.

We also cleared the vegetation islands at the end of no-through roads on residential backstreets. These little islands of greenare bursting with greenery, which in turn hides all of the rubbish thrown into them. With a bit of prodding and prying with pickers the rubbish in the undergrowth is soon exposed and removed. We've been plogging well long enough to know the tricks of the trade by now! All gathered plog info is always passed on to those new to it who wish to have tips. Another tip, on the subject of crushing and picking up cans is thus; when a can is stepped on to reduce it's size for bagging it often makes it more challenging to pry up from the ground; similarly, cans crushed by cars on the road are some of the flattest you will encounter. These can be picked up by wedging the can between both feet and slightly moving them together, bringing the can up enough from the ground so that the picker can is able to get a grasp of it. Another method, though requiring more precision, is to delicately grip the rim of the can with the tips of the picker. Both of these methods can be finessed with us on a monthly basis! You can also make up your own techniques to share with others too!

Join us on a pick soon!

A contact in a Barnsley litterpicking group told me of the areas for us to focus on tonight. We headed up Sackville Street, crossed the railway bridge onto Gawber Road, picking up bits of litter en route. Before turning right onto Wellfield Road an area behind an electricity box was cleared of trash which had evidently been accruing for a lengthy amount of time. This was evident from the dates on some of the newspapers found there! Next on the cards was a gennel through to The Grey Horse pub. In the area around the pub there were a lot of cigarettes, complemented by cans and bottles of beer. We emerged on Palm Street, turned right, and started down School Street. Here a man came out from one of the houses to heap praise on us, and even wanted to give us some money. We advised the gentleman that a donation to a local charity would be a good use of the money, and that was agreed upon. We were very flattered that someone sincerely appreciates the efforts we go to; what a lovely gesture!

"Take care not to trip while running or you might get 'road-trash'"

Following this, on a high from some positive encouragement, we skipped off down Greenfoot Lane, onto Gawber Road and retraced our earlier steps but on the opposite side of the road on the way back to Glasshouse. Near the bottom of the hill we found a bin and left the treasure from the night's activities there to be picked up by the the rubbish people.

Some notable finds on the evening's excursion were: - A laughing face emoji air freshener (see pic) - A remote control - 147 cigarette butts

Once back at Glasshouse we stretched off all of the key muscles we used.

Cry havoc and let loose GoodGym Barnsley to liberate the streets from litter!

This evening we started our pick quite close to our starting point. On the way to some streets well known for rubbish, a sizeable amount was spotted in the Tithe Barn area. This site was previously home to the Tithe Barn which was used for storing produce from local farming, finally dismantled in the 1970s. There are now concrete steps linking two roads with seating, paths and planting in between, alongside a raised level platform where the barn once stood. The gully by the side of the steps is a haven for trash, as are the bushes in the dark damp depths below the railing-topped containing wall. The bushes have recently been cut back revealing the hidden treasure stored within. Evidently the folk who chopped the bushes back left some other bits behind besides the felled branches; we found discarded work gloves, ratchets and high vis vests lying amongst the other bits of rubbish. The hidden-from-view areas obviously don't get cleared up that often- out of sight, out of mind!

"... and that's a wrap-per!"

Two bin bags were filled from this area alone, after which we moved onto the streets. We cleared Coalby Walk, Churchfield, Sackville St, Westgate, Shambles St, Grahams Orchard, Peel Sq and Queen St. After which we Trundled along May Day Green and deposited the filled bags in the bins there.

On our way to stretch we found a guy begging near Mother Hubbard's. During a quick chat with him we informed him that we'd let Peter and the BCDP team know his whereabouts so they could drop off food and drink on their round later in the evening.

NB. We can't upload photos at the moment.

On a blustery Sunday morning two intrepid GoodGymers met up at the entrance to the pedestrianised section of Burton Bank Road for a litter pick. When the area was scouted out on an evening earlier in the week over 50 rabbits were seen, so today we had high hopes for spotting some. We headed into Burton Bank at 11am, and spent an hour clearing rubbish from the areas canopied by large trees and bushes. These spots are look to be used for camps and gatherings judging from the litter we retrieved and evidence of long since extinguished campfires. During our pick in the trees we met a woman who was very appreciative of our efforts, having informed us that she used to do litter picking herself; it's always nice to get some recognition of our work.

After filling our bags full we decided that it was time for some play on the rocks (as we happen to be members of an unofficial GoodGym bouldering group). We spied some good routes up the rock faces then clambered our way up them. 3 quarters of the way up one of the rockfaces we found a geocache stashed in a bored out hole encased with a rock. We weren't even looking for one! It contained a 3D pony sticker, a roll of paper and some coins.

"Losing your crag!"

After completing some fitness in the form of fun sandstone climbs, we deposited our rubbish in a park bin and called time on our good deeds for the day!

So... plogging activities were carried out by GG only on this particular evening. Scott's son had a footy match and Gill is otherwise engaged at the moment so there was noone from outside of GG joining us. Nay mind, we're more than capable litter pickers!

Armed with plog sticks and an array of plastic bags we pointed ourselves southward and hit the streets. The 'Keep Barnsley Tidy' group had informed us of some specific roads warranting our attention. We made our way up these roads collecting sackfuls of litter from inbetween the parked cars (litter gathering trash magnets). Some residents even came out of their houses to thank us, as usual they were quickly informed about GoodGym and what we're all about.

After clearing Dodworth Rd, Derby St,Shaw Ln and South St we made our way to the fitness apparatus in Penny Pie Park. Here activities included pull-downs, leg presses, shoulder presses and hill climbers; 20 slow repetitions of each.

After picking Poggy Park we proceeded to place our rubbish in nearby waste receptacles (otherwise known as bins) and then headed back to base to stretch off.

We've got a special session next week; it's the launch event for GoodGym's new partner- Raleigh!