With filming of the next Harlan Coben drama taking place in Heaton Park blocking the original location, we focused on some of the beds near the Stables Cafe to provide a bit of maintenance.

Ella from the park had the tools and gloves, while Ben & Juno brought some GoodGym muscle to target any weeds with a particular focus on the large amount of thistle that had taken over.

Ripping out the thistle proved fruitful given the dry soil, while the sticky willy (Galium aparine) came along with it. With each wheelbarrow load of weeds, we made steady progress in the late morning sunshine, making sure to top up the sun cream too.

2 hours of aggressive weeding produced a sizeable pile of weeds that will breakdown over time. By the end, we were covered in seeds and bits of plants but was certainly worth it given the progress made.

Steady session for Mr S. Bit by bit, we're keeping on top of weed, nettle, and bramble growth, which is great.

Today, there was some weeding of the patio and on the footpath, mowing of the lawn, and some bramble removal where possible. Hoping for some rain to properly dig out the roots soon!

Lots of heavy weeding in the other part of the garden, with nettles, weeds, and brambles removed, giving space to the mint and blackberries growing.

Managed to chop and mow a path for Mr S to get easier access to the blackberries too.

Good to see him and the dog. Very thankful for the ice cream on a sunny day too.

Productive session for Mrs L using the little known rake-secateurs method for lopping tree hedge branches.

Using a rake to pull down the target branches, the secateurs did a cracking (literally in some places) job of lopping off excess that was starting to grow towards the house windows and gutters.

There was a lot of branches, so much so that once the green bin was full, there was another two bins worth left by the side. Some general weeding followed in the garden allowing Mrs L better access to the garden.

Another tree needs some attention but that will be a job for another day.

Super effort from Victor, Sanjeev, and Ben this evening to help Keep Manchester Tidy 🚮

Despite a late-arriving Sanjeev, we made the short trot towards the Bridgewater Hall and Hulme from the relative quiet of St Peter's Square with no metrolink running. It wasn't long before litter on pavements and next to parked cars started to build up, an apt cue to bring out the gloves, litter pickers, and dashing pink refuse sacks.

Lots of squashed drinks cans, takeaway trash, and plastic bottles slowly filled up the bags, with flyers and coffee cups adding to the load. Near the bridge to Hulme Park, we unearthed a whole host of rubbish including a broken tartan umbrella 🌂 and several laughing gas cannisters.

After crossing the bridge, Hulme Park was relatively tidy, with just a few hotspots identified and rubbish removed.

In total, we collected 7 refuse sacks, 4 cannisters, plus a brolly and some broken poles. A good haul left next to a public bin, and reported to Keep MCR Tidy for collection during council rounds.