A weeding frenzy! 🌱

On a sunny Saturday afternoon, 4 GoodGymers met with John and the Friends of Gwendwr Gardens to lend a hand with weeding the sunken garden. Jess and Beth were first to arrive, and John gave them a little guided tour to point out some of the most common and troublesome weeds - the green alkanet being the most troublesome in the gardens! As we walked, John mentioned that Gwendwr Gardens are a memorial to the damage caused by enemy bombing during World War II.

Gwendwr Gardens are dedicated to the commemoration of one raid in particular - on the evening of Sunday 20th February 1944, Fulham was on the receiving end of an enemy air raid. In just one hour, 20 highly explosive bombs and an estimated 7,000 incendiaries fell. 12 serious fires were started as a result of the incendiaries, including one at the Queens Club where furniture from bomb-damaged houses was being stored, leading to a particularly ferocious blaze. A number of the highly explosive bombs landed in the West Kensignton / Barons Court area, causing significant damage to North End Road School, as well as completely destroying almost 100 houses in the surrounding area. In total, 76 people lost their lives and a further 194 were hospitalised. Read more all the history of the gardens here.

Back to the present day, Jess and Beth soon set to work weeding after their little tour. They chose to begin in a sunny patch with plenty of the usual suspects to tackle. In no time at all Ben & Lucy joined them to bring muscle to the weed removal operation.

The team spent a pleasant hour gardening in the sunshine and chatting to the lovely residents of the Friends of Gwendwr Gardens group. After a good hour's work, they had removed a impressive 4 bin bags full of weeds. Tools were returned to John and the GoodGym team said their thanks before heading home to enjoy the rest of the lovely weather. Another good weed indeed!!