Met up with Andy, then Simon. A briefing and discussion that the area we were supposed to clear up had been done already. So we all moved onto Nursery Street and we started clearing litter. Windy evening and loads of rubbish in corners and along pavements. Loads of cars parked and found soiled nappies, and other disgusting stuff. 4 of us managed to load at least 6 bags of litter. Andy brought a large flask of coffee and biscuits to share.

5 Goodgymmers ran up to Durham Ox and met up with David. He handed all the tools to us and explained the tasks. Mainly clearing the cycle paths, cutting off shrubs and bushes that are in the way. Also litter picking, sweeping and clearing. Later Simon Heller came to volunteer too. Lovely to see a familiar face again and I ended up in the pub with him. Bad Gymmer with a glass of small red wine but very enjoyable.

Tonight GoodGym headed to an underpass in need of a thorough spring clean. We met our old friend Simon, and new friend John, to collect equipment from Sustrans' secret lock-up. We gathered shovels, bags, pickers, signs, hoops, and a trolley, then set off to the Netherthorpe tram underpass to start the clean-up. Rachel did marvelous work clearing the gutters of leaves, and the rubbish hidden within them, with her large shovel. James held open bin bags to receive the litter which Rachel swept in. Simon and John, meanwhile, were working with pickers at opposing ends of the tunnel. Notable finds of the night were a complete birthday cake and a large saucepan. The underpass is a busy thoroughfare and we had may people passing through thank us for our efforts which is always very welcome.

By the end of the pick we had gathered 5 full bags of detritus. We took all of the equipment back to the lock-up, said our goodbyes, and headed back to the Showroom to stretch off.

It was back to The Durham Ox for the last Sustrans task with Simon at the helm for this year.

Simon had been volunteering for Sustrans for over 25 years and now he has retired from work he is looking to travel more and enjoy his time without so many commitments.

This week we took up our snow shovels and removed a huge amount of wet leaves and dirt from this dogleg part of the National Cycle Network (NCN) around the back of the Durham Ox pub.

Once cleared we headed to The Showroom to buy Simon a drink or two to say thanks for all his help and hear a bit more about the man behind the legend! Simon will be back, just not for each Sustrans task.

Michelle very kindly got Simon a card (see photos) to thank him for all the hard work he has put into the tasks we've worked on with him.

A HUGE #GGSHEFF welcome to new runner:

Ben

Give him a whoop, hola, cheer and follow!

Great to meet with you and have a chat Ben, hope you're back again with Steph in the near future!

This weeks task took us back to Lynwood Gardens, a lovely section of a re-routed part of the Sustrans National Cycle Network (NCN) that keeps people off the busier Glossop Road.

We'd not been back for a while, so we got stuck straight in with the following tasks:

• Graffiti removal
• Sign cleaning
• Leaf sweeping
• Looping and chopping back

In a short space of time the path was looking a whole lot clearer and the line of sight much improved, making it much more accessible and less intimidating for any users.

We also hear that the next task with Sustrans would be Simon's last as he passes the reigns to John Kirkword who will be leading on all things Sustrans and goodgym in 2025. He has kindly offered to buy us a drink at the end of the next Sustrans task at The Durham Ox on Dec 2nd. I think it should be us buying him a drink for the efforts he's put in though!

Until next time, happy running :)