Graham Lee

After an early morning of parkrun activity at both Bexley and Dartford parkruns, several Goodgymers met at the Erith Exchange ready to tackle the gardens. Upon arrival I was extremely jealous of the greenhouse with the massive tomato plants growing inside! 🍅

We met with Louis, who gave us tasks straight away, watering and fertilising the plants as well as weeding and planting in other areas.

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With all the gear and not much idea, we were guided by Louis who helped point out the weeds and and the best place for planting the seedlings. There were a mixture of nasturtiums, climbing beans and morning glory which were planted along the fences with the hope that they will climb and bloom.

After all the hard work we couldn’t leave with out visiting the Bookshop cafe for a lovely brunch and coffee! ☕️

What a glorious day to have company on the Lesnes Woods litter pick. This week we headed down the actual ruins where we said hi to a few other volunteers working on the gardens. This week wasn't as bad as usual but we still managed to fill a bag and leave the woods looking 'Spik and Span'

After a Saturday morning parkrun we headed to the Old English Library to help out with the garden. Upon arrival, Nick had already set about working on the “spikey area” 🌵 and introduced us to the head gardener, Louis. We were given a brief history and tour of the garden. The area has improved lots over the last few years, after having all the overgrown brambles removed. Our job was to dead head the fading daffodils and spring tulips and get rid of any weeds and sycamore seedlings. After a short while we could see the improvement. We took a look in the bespoke built greenhouse which is based on the design of the very first mobile library which was located in Erith and the selection of propagated house plants. We couldn’t have left without having brunch in the Bookshop cafe!

Louis works on the garden Wednesday-Friday and holds 2 Saturday sessions a month.

Having participated in the Charlton Parkrun earlier, Goodgymers assembled at St Georges Garrison Church to get their teeth into today’s task. This was the third visit to this location to reduce the substantial amount of brambles in the church grounds. This part of an overall project to turn the overgrown ground into a memorial garden for Commonwealth and Ghurka soldiers. It is nice to be part of this project. The task was a combination of heavy pruning and digging up roots during which Sarah made an unusual find - part of an animal’s jaw with a large tooth or fang- anyone know which animal or has lost their dentures? After tidying up, Andrew treated us to tea/coffee and a generous selection of cakes which we consumed in the sunshine in front of the alter. We have been invited back and I’m sure this will be supported again as this appears to be a favourite task among those present.

"You can't start a fire,

You can't start a fire without a spark..."

The spark in this case was GoodGymer Graham who was making his debut as Run Director at Bexley parkrun in Danson Park. Graham had put out a call for support from fellow GG-ers and Sarah, Johnny, Susan, Ben and Tim all signed up to help, joining the amazing regular volunteers who are there every Saturday, come rain or shine.

Graham was calm and collected as he organised the volunteers into their roles, gave the main briefing to nearly 300 parkrunners, and oversaw the smooth running of the event.

Sarah W give the first timers briefing then joined Susan and Johnny as barcode scanners. Ben was a timekeeper and Tim took photos around the course.

Goodgymers Sarah L and Martin participated as parkrunners, with Sarah L also taking some photos and Martin later telling us it was his 300th parkrun. Go Martin!

Bravo Graham, you did a great job and we were proud to be there as part of your hi-vis team.

Greenwich Goodgym were joined by “tourists” from Bexley and Fulham and Hammersmith for this morning’s task. Having participated in the earlier Charlton parkrun, we made the short trip to St Georges Garrison Church to be met by Tim, one of the Trustees. Secateurs, shears, fork and spades distributed , we were set to work and quickly got to the root of the prickly problem. After an hour or so, Tim called time and provided refreshments and a very interesting talk on the Church. This was a hidden gem in South East London and had it not been for Goodgym I would not have known this place existed. I think it fair to say, Tim was pleased with our efforts and we can expect a further invite.