Let the season of head torches and work lights begin!

Tuesday, 22 September 2026, happened to coincide with the autumnal equinox. The day and night were equal, and the sun rose directly in the east and set directly in the west. Needless to say, it set very shortly after our group run began!

For the last two weeks, our Tuesday evening group managed to get away without switching on the head torches, perhaps thanks to the leafletting and signage tasks' nature, both of which took place on the streets. But tonight we were back in the William Hobbayne Centre courtyard, which isn't lit after dark. Thankfully, enough of us remembered about the torches to make our efforts effective.

Sue from the Hobbayne Charity directed us to the outdoor sections of the centre that we hadn't had time to tackle at our last session there in June. We cleared all the leaves, brambles and other weeds from the passages leading to the gates to Lower Boston Road and St Mark's Road. We also had time to speed-weed the area around the tool shed, which left all the outdoor spaces sorted out before the autumnal leaf drop.

Although the equinox marked the beginning of autumn, the weather and our immediate surroundings were sending us mixed signals about what season it actually was. Temperatures above 20 degrees made it feel as though it were still the middle of summer, while the dried Christmas tree we found in the yard brought wintry, festive vibes.

We had barely concluded that the tree would have to wait until January for the council’s next Christmas tree collection when hell broke loose. Suddenly, the GoodGymers launched an assault on the already-dead tree, chopping off its branches until only the main stem remained. Then the mob returned to their usual cheery demeanour. What could possibly have turned the GoodGymers into a gang of notorious Grinches? The prime suspect? Perhaps pub Christmas dinner advertisements appearing before we had even made it to Halloween?

A few Goodgymers around the country joined the Great UK WaterBlitz

Testing the waters at Mutton Brook

Another little GoodGym citizen-science mission for Gus and me, back at Mutton Brook.

I’m really enjoying returning to the same stretch of water. There is something rather nice about sitting quietly beside the brook, fiddling around with the little test tubes and watching the colours develop — and, once you’ve done it a couple of times, the testing is actually very easy.

Today’s results were interesting. The water looked remarkably clear, but the nitrate reading appeared quite high — around the 2–5 mg/L range, possibly close to 5 — while phosphate was very low at around 0.02–0.05 mg/L.

So it’s a mixed picture. Low phosphate is encouraging, but the nitrate suggests there is still a significant nutrient input somewhere upstream. Mutton Brook starts only a few miles away in Cherry Tree Wood in East Finchley and then flows through a very urban landscape, including alongside major roads and beneath the North Circular. Urban runoff, drainage and other sources could all contribute, although one test can’t tell us exactly where the nitrate is coming from.

It also shows why these tests are worthwhile: clear-looking water isn’t necessarily clean water.

Results uploaded, another tiny piece of data added to the bigger picture — and Gus and I got a peaceful few minutes beside the brook into the bargain.

Report from Paul Browning

I did my testing on the River Quaggy in Manor Park in SE London where I have done testing several times before. Concentrations of nitrates and phosphates were both low, phosphates lower than last time I did the testing.