Our Grass Rakes Bring all the Boys to the Yard

Thirteen energetic athletes sped through Lewisham to the Honor Oak Adventure Playground, covering 6KM and thrashing some seriously stubborn weeds n' reeds, with a hill and another to finish (us) off

There was a lovely buzz in the foyer of Glass Mill this evening, as we welcomed a few first-timers to GoodGym Lewisham, first-timers in fact to GoodGym anything! Woo-hoo! Shout out to Steve (who is new to London, big welcome), Rebecca, Tom and Helen. And, of course, much love and open arms to our returners and regulars ;)

Even though it's been getting warmer, tonight felt a touch on the fresh side again, so a good run around outside and some drills to warm up those muscles and we were ready to go.

As we had some first-timers and some return-to-running participants, we kept a nice steady pace, enjoying all that Ladywell and Crofton Park have to offer by way of scenery en route. We passed by Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries, we inhaled hard as we passed the jerk chicken shop in Crofton Park, that always has a bbq going, we jogged over the railway line and we cheered as we saw the tell-tale colourful adventure playgroundy wood, poking out from behind the trees.

We were met by Linda, who also welcomed us last week at the Ladywell Fields APG (look at that, we're even now abbreviating it!), who showed us the tools and pointed us in the right direction. Now this playground is BIG! When you gather together and work closely on one small area, then step back and see that there's a whole load more to do, you realise that we need to make a return visit, for sure (May 30th, it's in the diary!). The areas of grass between the wooden structures are overgrown, with brambles pushing up between the steps, snagging children's ankles as they play - well done Emma for tackling these!

At this point a cluster of children gathered at the gates, worried they were missing a lock-in

There were raised beds, completely covered in fern, brambles and a huge chive plant. All of these were very carefully pulled up, ready for our return, when we will fill them with fresh soil and plant seeds and bulbs for the users of the space to enjoy. In another area, there was some serious arm action going on, as Tom had a really good go at getting the strimmer going. No luck. Adele had a go. Nah. Steve had a go. Nope.

Niall pointed out that this would have been cheating. Fair enough.

So, runners got busy with various snippers, diggers, cutters, loppers, rakers, brushers and bashers, anything really that might make a dent in the reeds and grasses that were covering the whole area. What a brilliant job was done, creating spaces for children to explore and climb into, that might have been overlooked before. It was very soon time to tidy up, with a pause while the first-aid kit was brought out for the first time (happy for it to gather dust) to deal with...a splinter. Note - must invest in tweezers for the kit.

Full bin bags were carried away, hands were washed, heads were counted and Linda thanked everyone for all their hard work. Time to head over to Hilly Fields, we love Hilly Fields.

The task had been quite intense and runners were starting to flag, so a quick hill repeat was called for. It was still light - we're loving this - so Eastern Road was our hill for the night, with a steady run to the gates then a hard push to the third lamp post, with a jog or walk down to recover. And again, with an up and over to enjoy the view. A few people commented that they hadn't been this way before - come back in the daytime, it really is quite special.

The downhill of Ellerdale Street is always embraced at this point and the chatter got louder again, with a few people having enough energy left to run hard to our start point for some gentle stretching. We wished Conroy all the best in the London Marathon, telling everyone about the GoodGym cheer point that Pritesh has organised. Next week we have a really interesting new task at Wildcat Wilderness, so come and join us for some more fun.