Julian Osman

It was fabulous to see so many people brave the pouring rain ready to shift 10 tonnes of soil at Hither Green station embankment. This is our third attempt at helping create a wildflower meadow in this space, Anne-Marie had a new plan of action this time - laying lots and lots of cardboard (kindly donated from Lewisham market) and on top of that laying 3-5cm of soil.

First up we warmed up with another game of rock paper scissors but with no sprinting this week as I didn't want any injuries from slipping on the wet grass!! Instead the winner got to do starjumps and the loser had to do 5 squats. Everyone got into the swing of things once they'd remembered the rules of rock paper scissors.

We made our way over to Hither Green station to the mountain of cardboard and soil awaiting us and after a thorough H&S briefing from Anne-Marie we were counted into the site and formed a chain to move the cardboard to the end of the area. Unsurprisingly we were speeding through moving the giant mountain of cardboard and we had nearly reached the soil.

We began taking it in turns shifting the soil and spreading it across the cardboard, those that were having a break from soil shifting took part in mexican squats and lunges, the exercise equivalent of a mexican wave. No rest for the wicked at GoodGym Lewisham (rest is 100% allowed whenever required)!!

It was time to pack up and be counted out of the embankment area, tools were counted in as we have developed a reputation for miss laying tools and them being lost until they're found months later! We took a different downhill route back to Glassmill for our cool down.

Next week, we are heading back to Hither Green station to continue our work.

First off a big thank you to St Swithun’s for the wonderful lunch to say thank you for all our hard work over the past year. It was fantastic to meet different people involved in the project and hear how a lot of the plants have been grown by the congregation of a church in Cambridge. This project has inspired a lot of people in different areas to get out into nature.

First off was digging over a patch of the garden that belonged to weeds and strawberries previously but this is now covered and going forward it’ll be a vegetable bed.

We then moved onto the very organised planting sections, we took charge of 1-3 (out of 16) and planted rosemary plants and bulbs including daffodils and iris.

A broken trowel later and we had time to start on giving sections 4 and 5 one last weed and start planting before we headed home.

It’s been amazing to see this project develop and we’ve loved being involved. Over winter we’ll be inside painting (everyone’s favourite)!

On a gloomy and rainy Saturday morning, the stage was set for a bloody battle. The arena: Vanbrugh Pits; The Gladiators: Julian & Miguel; The enemy: Gorse and bramble;

The battle was brutal and there was total devastation. The gorse and bramble attacked and pushed back, but the gladiators were the ultimate winners. To celebrate, the warriors were treated to a nice cup of tea, some croissants, and some biscuits! They deserved it! In the end, the arena was much clearer and ready for another glorious day. Until next battle!

This Sunday in Charlton comes the fair once described as the yearly collected rabble of mad people. As well as, in the Daily News in 1872, a reign of the Lord of Misrule.

Of course, this is surprising GoodGym fodder, and I for one felt shivers at the prospect of flyering for such an event.

Thankfully however, the Horn Fair these days is a celebration of life that’s staged in the decadent grounds of Charlton House and Gardens, in collaboration with the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust. On offer will be numerous dance performances, a new kids’ zone run by Charlton’s new Montessori Moments nursery, and gastronomic delights including Jamaican rum cakes and local mead.

Last night, seven GoodGymmers met outside Charlton House to bang the drum for the upcoming event. We had reams of leaflets and were dispersed into a group of three and four, and we headed in opposite directions.

Julian, Debs, and I quickly got onto residential streets with the help of Julian’s local knowledge, and we fed leaflets into letterboxes until our hands were empty. Then, we jogged back to Charlton House, buoyed by our timeliness, and shortly afterwards, we were joined by the other group. We nattered for a short while and then asked a passer-by to take a photo, and that was a wrap to a lovely GoodGym evening.

And remember, if you’re at a loose end this coming Sunday 17th October, then pop down to the Horn Fair at Charlton House and Gardens between 11am and 4pm. I expect it will be a rabble of community and zing that will keep the Autumn cold away!