Thank you Lucy for showing us a much more scenic route from the Lido to the task this evening. It was a twitcher's paradise, two sets of swans with their cygnets, ducks with their ducklings and even a majestic egret! Far more interesting than the concrete monstrosity road bridge I'd have taken us over.

When we arrived, Judy and Katie were already on the platform and had found very, very little to do with the planters. Neither the GoodGym planter, or the one planted by the Men's Shed had anything in the way of weeds, or even litter.

Clearing the litter on the platform didn't take long at all, so things should be looking glorious for the judging session on Friday. We extended our pick on to the playing field behind the station, where Andy made friends with an excitable dog, and Jen rode a reclaimed bike found in the trees.

Mrs Es grill door was hanging on by a hinge, meaning she couldnt use the grull or oven.

Somehow, one of the hinges had come completely out of socket still in its locked position! But with Jen brains and Daves brawn, they managed to unhook the seized hinge and get the door back into place and in full working order.

As Pride had sadly been cancelled due to the horrendous weather June is serving up. We went to the local coffee and donut spot for a post mission treat. And of course had to get in some fun in the photo booth!

Gosh, that was a blustery one!!

In slightly different running conditions from last week's heatwave, four of us headed off from Hilsea Lido before collecting the rest of the crew at the Mountbatten Centre. We welcomed Paul to his very first session - epic commitment to come to a beach task when it's blowing a hooly!

Judy's recommendation to bring smaller bags was certainly a good idea, as bin bags would probably have doubled as parachutes with the additional sea "breeze". Weighed down with a few large stones (and a random shellsuit), we got to work filling our bags.

The more interesting finds included a drill picked up by Katie, Andy's mysterious 6 / 9 / g and most fun of all, a message in a bottle!! Sinéad messaged the number on the note, I'll keep you posted if we find out from where and when it came.

Epic work in challenging conditions, folks, well done! I think my favourite photos might be the ones featuring Andy in a t-shirt and shorts whilst Louisa looks ready for an Arctic Expedition 🥶