Arthur keeps saying we need to bring our litter picks down to the path to Hornfair Park near our home and today I took him up on it and we spent an hour clearing the pathway and tackling a particularly grim corner of rubbish which needs a second go. A lovely lady gave him some sweets for his efforts which made it all even more worthwhile!

Holiday season has arrived, which means Harvest time is on its way too, and the Community Garden at Maryon Wilson park in Charlton is looking amazing, brimming with flowers as well as crops ranging from cucumbers to sweet peas, and courgettes to rhubarb.

Today was our monthly mission here, and a great catch up with Tim and Edna. Our main task was chopping back overhanging foliage, bind weed and similar tree growth to help make the pathways easier to navigate. (Some long armed tree-lopping-choppers, which is possibly not the technical term, were a massive help with the higher branches...!)

A good old sweep up completed our work, so it was time for tea and snacks (massive thanks to Edna) and out through the woods to the rest of the weekend 😎

On a sunny Wednesday evening, the GoodGym Greenwich gang laced up and set off on an uphill mission! Our run took us up the ever-challenging Shooters Hill, to the Memorial Hospital where we were met by Maira and trundled with our tools to the lovely woodland path. Our job for the evening was to move as much woodchip as possible down to the new seating area for the regular woodland sessions for patients and staff in the hospital.

Buckets and wheelbarrows at the ready, we teamed up and got to work. Some shovelled away and others navigated the twists and turns down the path with wheelbarrows and myself and Ivar with a big old crate on wheels that made us feel like we were bobsleighing. Cool runnings at its finest.

The new seating area is looking great, and our efforts are helping make the space less muddy and even more welcoming for everyone who visits this peaceful green corner of Greenwich. With plenty of laughs, a bit of sweat, and a solid upper-body workout thrown in, we regrouped for a quick photo and enjoyed a breezy jog back down the hill.

Next week we're back to help out at Glyndon!

Until next time 😊

Rachel

This morning, seven of us congregated at the coffee shop, most of the group having already good deeded at the junior parkrun (happy 1st birthday Hornfair!)

We enjoyed a leisurely run - much nicer in the slightly cooler weather - to Mycenae Gardens where we met Vic and continued pulling up weeds. Most of them were small but pernicious alkanet and the like but Kerry managed to find a innocuous looking weed, connected to the biggest root I've seen in a while which was making headway on strangling a tree. Satisfying work and makes sense of the title of the report 🥳💪

After a while of weeding, we had a lovely slice of cake and made our way to Pistachio in the park for a nice coffee in the garden. What a treat.

Good luck to Marta on the long run today and Vic on the dog sitting!

On Wednesday we're back at the Memorial Hospital.

Until next time,

Rachel 😁👋🏼

...so we did! Along with lots of other tasks at a productive community mission today. A warm Saturday morning led 9 GoodGym-ers to St Richard's Church in Charlton, where our woodchip pathway project is nearly complete!

Our first task was to pin down the last of the membrane, and ferry as much of the remaining woodchip to cover it. Just a bit more woodchip is needed and the pathway at the side of the church will be ready. A local tree surgeon has donated the woodchip from recently lopped trees, so the material has been nicely recycled. Some of the team got to work sanding the front door, which now looks super smooth, and ready for some shiny varnish, while others smartened up the Church signposts by painting the red posts a glossy black.

Our last task was one we're very familiar with, which was clearing brambles in the back garden. Chopping and digging commenced, and both sides put in their best game - team Brambles had a better defence (look out for those thorny tacklers!) while team GoodGym struck for goal with an attack formation (secateurs & forks).

The whistle blew for full-time leaving the teams to debrief & pose for the newspapers.

Great match all & see you soon! 🙂"