Gorgeous evening for our return visit to the Rose garden; after a little treasure hunt for the shed key, we set out to clear another section of the flowerbed armed with various tools from Andrew's shed. Tackling the never ending roots of bindweed, cutting down bramble and generally digging out anything weedlike, we made a sizeable dent (2 bags worth) in getting this flowerbed looking neat & tidy, with roses showing off their wonderful blossoms. Looking forward to the next visit, hopefully with more hands on deck so we can finish it off.

Great turnout and after an hour or so of hacking, raking and slashing we even discovered some benches. Among the weeds on the raised beds were revealed two dozen empty beer bottles, a case of two of sundry cans and the usual quota of crisp packets. But disappointingly, only one weapon; a short handled, fixed blade knife. Andrew, our mentor for the evening's mission was unimpressed, having unearthed a number of knives, a gun and a samurai sword while on various clear ups in Southwark. This evening there was a rumour of some support coming from our site's adjoining corporate neighbour, Unilever. But sadly the half expected box of 'Magnum' ice creams failed to materialize....! Never mind. We all felt that a positive difference had been made and the gentlefolk of Kingston now have a highly desirable seating area on the sunny banks of the Hogsmill.

Despite earlier snow and ever present cold, we braved the elements and gathered at the Tolworth allotment where we were met by the lovely Georgia.

Firstly, we were given a tour of the wonderful community "house/office" where a bug hotel was to be constructed (drawings looked good), brackets printed by a very fancy 3D printer and plants & fish looked after. Nice and cozy inside but that's not why we were there.

There were number of plots that were left full of unwanted items, some trapped by the ever present bramble. Taking on the bramble first (there seem to be no gloves in the world to protect you from this nemesis), we were then able to clear that plot as well as few others, bagging most of the items for disposal and making a bonfire pile from the unwanted wood. With a little more work from Georgia's team (mainly collection of the old broken greenhouse), these plots can be used for a community plot as well as go to local people, some of whom have been on a waiting list for 3-4 years we have been told.

Looking forward to coming back soon.

PS: apologies to Jacquetta for losing her hat