No brolly but all the ivy

Two experienced GoodGym missioners helped a Camden resident see more clearly by removing half a huge mass of ivy that had been allowed to dominate his garden wall for 15 years

The clocks went back to allow a lie-in, the rain let up and the scene was set for a mission reunion.

Today we met "Rod" (not his real name) who had been in his home for around 30 years but was originally from up north so had a good chinwag about that. He usually looks after his garden but he is less able to do so as his health has worsened.

"You might not want to take this on when you see it..." said Rod

I was anxious when we heard that, but we have taken on many missions so were not fazed. Rod had been trying to find help to trim back the ivy for the last 15 year and he also thought it might have spread to his neighbours.

The ivy was immense and an impressive sight. Rod had many tools, but mostly for precision work, and it was tricky to find a stable place to position the ladders, so we mostly used our hands!

It was hard work, but surprisingly fun to use spades and hoes as levers to yank off the thick branch-like roots off the wall and pull down the flailing roots and leaves. The roots were so strong they could take our weight! That meant we had to use all our might, sometimes both our might, but it was satisfying to rip huge chunks of ivy and unveil new beams of light as we went. The spiders, dirt and leaves flying into our faces, hair and mouths was less cool, though!

Though we couldn't let Rod get directly involved, he did wish to chip in so was very helpfully chopping and bagging up as we went along.

We certainly had a workout with all that pulling, but we had reached the end of what we could do without further tools. We also didn't wish to pull too much harder as we were unsure about the brickwork and how much was lurking on the other side of the wall.

After a solid hour, we switched over to help with clearing up and after another ten or so minutes, we'd filled over half-a-dozen big bags of green waste.

Rod was great and interesting company and delighted with the massive help and start to a very long overdue project. He was determined to carry on at a more measured pace.

Great task and catch up for two GoodGymmers and Rod also gets a bonus mark for being the second host to ask if we were students!