Having spent his afternoon typing our bumper pack email of Goodgym news, Ivo strode out to lead the GG TH weekly run, from the Town Hall Hotel. There he scooped up a trio of gentle joggers. Praise is due to Lucinda and Fiona who got their trainers on in time to join Dan, making a group of three eager runners, which saw our pre-task running club double in size! Will you be there to join the next Monday run? It is the the fittest and funnest way to arrive at task...

With the rest of the GG TH crew arriving separately at Columbia Road Gardens (much less fit, much less fun), it was over to Ed to kick-off with an introduction to the evening's community mission activity: weeding. As a local resident and leading gardener of the Columbia Road Tenants and Residents Association, Ed has the nous and the kit to ensure we weed well. And weed well we really weedly did 😀.

Divided into two, half the team set to weeding the "race-track" area, so called because of the twisting path that weaves through it, rather than any high-speed racing from the cars parked nearby. The energy was much more shuffle and stoop than the typical Formula One race, thankfully. Time to slow down, even stop, perhaps, and weed your way to better wellbeing.

The team firstly discussed what plant-life classified as a weed in this setting. The term can be a confusing and troubling one, as it is such an amorphous category, determined by both personal interpretation and the specific context. Much like most things then, really.

So, with the evening's weed category formally classified, hand-held trowels and forks were passed around and some grass was pulled up, as were some nettles. Kevin's sharp horticultural eye spotted some clove and wild garlic in the undergrowth, finds that brought on Kat's growing hunger, stimulated by such a fine choice of edible leaves in each and every direction.

Hunger games aside, Kat was most committed to the task when protecting the delicate ladybirds seen roundabout. A common favourite from the insect family, despite urban myth stating quite clearly how red and black can be a mark of some sort of nature danger? And besides, a brave and bold colour pattern combo for even the most frightfully well-dressed of ladies, or birds.

The unearthed weeds soon began to pile up in semi-ordered clumps, ready for collection (proudly displayed in a big, yellow bucket by Emma), with Kareem responsible for lots of the lugging required to get the contents added to the compost heap tucked inside the orchard, where the other GG team had been weeding.

Before delving into the detail of their endeavours, a brief pause for some broader, more philosophical reflection on the topic of weeds. Thank you, Asad, for making the interesting point that the word weed, often used to ridicule somebody's lack of strength, belies the stark truth of the matter: the roots of the weeds encounterd here, just like weed roots we have all known and loved, were resolute in their resistance to any tug or pull, buried deeply and firmly beneath the surface of the soil.

Thus, to be called a weed really signals quite a belligerent force to be reckoned with, does it not?

So, into the weedy orchard arena stepped the remaining GG TH gardener volunteers. Flicking away a few spots of rain, the team braced themselves for a weedly tough challenge: removing the unwanted plant-life creeping around the fruit tree trunks.

Chloe was quick to track down and prize out unwanted dandelions and Anna ensured that little strawberry plants remained firmly set in the soil, should any have been mistakenly taken out, perhaps. Once patted and pressed back into place, high hopes remain for those soft red treats, the perfect complement to a slurp of cream, savoured whilst sat snuggly on a (well-weeded) garden lawn, come the height of Summer.

Jack lifted our minds up from simple weeding work through contemplation of plant providence and the journeys plant species have made to their current home, over the course of time. Did you know: the potato, celebrated carbohydrate of many European countries, was only discovered through the Spanish invasion of Colombia and was first used as cattle feed when it was brought back in about 1600? Not quite a weed, but not the staple food and culinary joy we proclaim now with our chips, mash and baked spuds. A helpful historical reminder, from our GG TH mathematician, how a plant's place in a garden can change according to context and point of view. Orchard anthropology indeed.

Back in east London, Dan was reassured to see how Tom struggled as much as he had, cracking through the dry, hardened ground with the strained prongs of a large fork, trying to release the deep roots of several tall dock plants.

A much smoother ride for the wheelbarrow deliveries of mulch shuttled across by Lobo, and then also by Tom, Chloe, Jack and Dan, delivering a replenishment of bark mulch to secure the reclaimed space now preserved for the trees and not to be taken up by the weeds. For long.

Ed had explained during mission briefing, how high plants and grasses could impinge on air and light for the tree, whilst also risk losing the clear sight lines much needed by overzealous lawnmowers.

Fiona combined her friendly paparazzi role, with gentle encouragement for everybody to wind up their last weeding activity, wheel away the final loads of organic weed waste, and simply wish each other a weedy wonderful week and weedy wonderful long weekend ahead.

The session concluded thus. Ed's tools were all collected in and stowed safely in a garden store along the way towards Shoreditch. Thank you, Ed, for the calm and careful way you guided our weeding ways, for the clearer space and air it shared with every plant and Goodgym volunteer lucky enough to have been there.

And, finally, can you see the rainbow shard, best in show at this week's alternative Columbia Road Flower display (check out lucky picture 13 of the photo reel)? Well, of course you do, and others will now, too, because there's not a weed to be seen on their patch of Tower Hamlets orchard.

No "weeds" to stop their growth, nor block an admirer's view. Stunning, strong and glossy, deep red stalks, with their flourish of curly leaves of dark green. Mighty flashy & fine ♥️ .

On Monday evening, for the first time this year, Team Tower Hamlets did a full task entirely in daylight! And not just daylight, glimpses of SUNlight! No headtorches, no guessing what that shadow might be, no losing your belongings (unless you're John of course... even the light can't help him keep track of his running backpack)…

We met Des at Parkview Estate and wasted no time getting stuck in across the estate and the Glasshouse surroundings - spreading out so efficiently we left no corner of the estate untouched. Recent newcomers Jack and Chloe got straight into Team Weeding and Raking, two minutes before we were even due to start! Not long after, Team Bench #1 (Ilana, Darren, Kareem, Jo and Leisurely Lucinda) took on the well-loved bench wrapped around a huge tree trunk in the estate play area, sanding and painting it back to life (and a 50th shade of green it seems...).

Over in the community garden, Team Potatoes (John and Emily) were busy earthing up the spuds to keep them growing strong - future chips in very safe hands. Meanwhile, Team Alleyway (Ivo and Oliver, later joined by Anna and others as their jobs wrapped up) tackled moss scraping, weeding and clearing leaves from drains and gutters with some rather interesting-looking, unidentified, medieval tools. It's the kind of job that is oddly satisfying once you get going! Chris kept the whole operation moving, wheeling what felt like an endless stream of barrows to compost or bins depending on their contents - we wouldn't want litter to end up in the compost, especially so close to Earth Day!

And, because apparently word got out that this was the place to be, Team Bench #2 (Lobo, Anna and Jack) formed as more GoodGymers kept arriving - sanding and painting a bench back to life in the community walled garden area. As for me, I mostly roamed between teams capturing the action, the chaos and the questionable cycling techniques (Kareem...) before getting stuck into a bit of weeding myself.

Somewhere in the middle of all this chaos, a resident stopped Oliver to hand over a stash of Penguins and Orange Club bars (big throwback to packed lunches for many of us!). She’d seen the work going on and wanted to say thank you - a small moment that summed up exactly what these tasks are all about - working out for the future, environment and helping out the local community whilst boosting that sense of togetherness

We wrapped up with a “quick” group photo (they're never quick, I can only apologise...), then a good chunk of the crew headed to the nearby Approach Tavern to celebrate the release of the brand new GoodGym Sky TV advert, which has made us all celebrities in our own right.

Des, from Parkview Estate, said "They were a great bunch tonight. They managed to get through all the jobs I'd lined up!"

A brilliant evening: loads achieved, lots of laughs, and a proper reminder of what a difference a bit of collective effort (and daylight!) can make. 🌿

Monday's mission was the last one in March and the first to benefit from the brighter evenings. Our team of 14 GoodGym Tower Hamlets volunteers barely recognised each other in the daylight but were excited by the novel prospect of actually seeing what they were doing. And so, what was it they were doing this time? The GG Tower Hamlets team started the clearance of an overgrown pathway in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

The longer-term project, led by the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery and Park, will restore the former walkway to allow visitors better access to the burial site, as it once was in yesteryear. In particular, visitors will be presented with a closer look upon the tomb of a certain Perkin family, whose famous son William is the chemist lauded for his accidental discovery of a mauve-coloured dye, back in 1856.

In bringing the colour purple to the world through subsequent mass production, William Henry Perkin arguably sparked a fashion revolution in purple attire, sowed the seeds to inspire a book and films dedicated to the colour purple, and has now prompted GG TH to reconnect with the colourful contribution of a bygone celebrity from their home borough. Praise be William Henry Perkin.

Here follows an interlude of more information about the historical context... skip ahead for the contemporary GG action... William was a chemistry student prodigy who accidentally discovered how to make a synthetic dye for the colour mauve, when still a teenager. He set up a Perkin family business to build a factory, which initiated a whole new industry of dye manufacturing and rocketed the Perkin family to entrepreneurial fame and fortune. William dedicated his life to further chemistry research and was made a knight a few years before his death, in 1907, at 69 years of age. William himself was not laid to rest in TH cemetery, but his parents and siblings are interred in the family grave there, the one about which the path clearance work has been planned. And, thus, the roundabout story, close enough link and good enough reason to indulge in some rose-tinted purple prose to document the mauve magic uncovered through this latest GG TH activity...

Fast-forward 170 years from the beginning of a mauve new world and you'll have seen Dan scrambling around to assemble, well, just himself as it turned out, for the widely and fondly regarded, and hopefully soon-to-be more actively supported: GG TH weekly Group Run. A routine option ahead of the task itself, rendez-vous outside the Town Hall Hotel is at 6.30pm. Do come along and join me / us, if you like, with the next group run before our next group mission. on 13th April. All welcome!

Besides the benefit of a little light evening exercise, a steadily-paced run can open your eyes to the streets around, presenting all manner of surprises... Monday's route jogging along Old Ford Road included a thrilling spot: something wrapped around a large tree in an adjacent park area... none other than the bench rejuvenated by our own fine paint work, a fortnight gone, during the Glass House group mission. An extraordinary sight (for those involved, at least!). Said bench is a shade of green less luminescent than the team had imagined / feared; the fresh / lurid tone softening to mix gently / sharply into the surrounding park life. Check out the photo for yourself!

With all runners, wheelers and walkers gathered at the lodge, Cemetery Park Manager, Ken, (whose second name "Greenway" is possibly the most apposite imaginable) greeted us with wheelbarrowfuls of tools for our task ahead. Ken then guided us through the "green", on our "way" (more of this wit to come), soon reaching the site of the evening's activity: clearing a thoroughly rewilded stretch of land running north to south that had previously been a pathway bisecting different sections of graves, including aforementioned Perkin family tomb.

Stopping here to take breath and to celebrate this Goodgym session as the first for both Freddie and Elizabeth. We warmly welcome you into the fold of GG camaraderie, spreading the joy of doing good whilst keeping fit. Do chat with other members and Taskforce (more experienced members), who can answer any questions you may have, or find somebody who can! We encourage you to do as much Goodgym volunteering as feels right for you. Go for it, and enjoy!

A further pause to big up our group mission host, Ken, whose "way" with "green" life (no more name puns, promise) makes him less like a cemetery park manager and more akin to a great, wise tree, replete with countless branches of nature knowledge. With this image in your mind, Ken gave us a helpfully comprehensive and accessible explanation of the work ahead: namely, what plant life to remove with what tool. And, how to do so in the most careful and useful ("green"?) “way” (the last time, really), all whilst enjoying the gentle flow of friendly GG chatter circulating around the group.

Starting off here with a quick trio of Ken's tool tips for the garden gadgets at our disposal...

Firstly, the fork: keep one foot on the ground, push through the other foot onto the shoulder of the fork for a safe and steady descent into the soil. You'll see Hilary, generously sharing her GG energy over from her regular Newham group, bringing with her an exemplary fork technique, worthy of a fork technique demonstration in any popular gardening programme.

Secondly, onto the saw: grip the handle with an ungloved hand for a firmer grip, which is exactly what Dan isn't showcasing in his unnecessarily awkwardly gripped sawing approach, with glove. The branch featuring in the photo did end up snapped in two, but could have been smoother, without glove. Praise for dogged perseverance, and overcoming a little adversity, nonetheless. Subsequent resolve to heed advice and accept useful help.

Finally, the loppers: suitable for branches of girth no wider than your thumb; appropriate application will give you the desired slicing sensation... like a knife through butter. This popular tool was yielded by too many GG TH lopperers to recall and credit fairly. However, special mention to newbies Freddie and Elizabeth, both fully committed to any stooping down and scrambling about required to achieve the perfectly soft snips through the slender tree trunks.

Herewith bonus equipment advice for tackling the tricksy features of any unwanted ivy or nettle, growing separately or in tandem. Kat downed tools, adopting a direct hands-on approach as the most effective method for intercepting the ivy sprawling over and around the gravestones. Great success. Alas, Anna's similar tussle with a single layer of gloves suffered the stinging attack of intertwined threads of nettle. Adding a second and third layer of gloves fortified the hands of a follow-up assault on the ivy, undeterred by the presence of any prickles, thus asserting gallant revenge over the nettles and a clear victory for the path clearance team.

Moving onto Ken's botany knowledge now: the plant life we had sharpened our tools for. Plant life whose time on this historic spot of earth was nigh... whose days spent encroaching onto a precious path from TH past were numbered... whose fate was about to be sealed with a relocation to the compost heap the other side of the hedge.

Specifically, a surge in growth from the cow parsley (part of the carrot family) needed to be removed, slender roots and all. This was a chore embraced by our Emma, keen to commune with the task's edible offering, nibbling bravely at a freshly rooted cow parsley. Has anybody seen or heard from Emma since btw?

Next up, low-lying shrubbery sprouting up amidst the jumbled mix of gravestones and soil needed halting in its tracks; a stubborn challenge requiring careful identification and precise intervention. Yielding loppers with due care and precision, John and Beth covered the nearside of the site we worked on, whilst Jo scouted to the far edges out yonder, ensuring we stretched our resources along to the top end of the path, too. Results were extraordinary.

Lastly on the plant life removals list: lean saplings set to mature into more substantial trees that would disrupt the restoration of our nearly forgot walkway. This mini felling operation soon gathered up substantial debris, requiring the smooth coordination of volunteers ready to bring out tip-top swiftness and agility from their horticultural toolkit.

Gliding into position came our elite wheeling patrol of GG volunteers, Kareem and Lobo, coordinated by Emma, who recently passed her advanced barrowing proficiency course.

Needless to say that countless piles of organic cut-back were sent shuttling away, transported safely and positioned tidily, adding to the mounting compost heap across the way, all before even the chattiest GG volunteer might have had chance to even mutter the recurring mantra heard that evening, "overgrown gravestone no more".

This kind of complex clearance operation requires calm adaptability and reliable illumination (for the last half hour); qualities provided by our final two volunteer stars of the night Ilana stepped in to cover the organiser responsibilities with cool assurance despite another cyclist bumping into her on her cycle over to task. And Lucinda carried the weight of night lights in her rucksack to illuminate the scene of our eclectic efforts, hidden beneath the darkness that had descended by the end.

Looking back at our team effort, not quite as clear as day, but as clear as portable battery-operated night lights could help us discern, was, yes, a rough thoroughfare of barer space starting to emerge and take the shape of a, yes, definitely maybe, a path. Trusted expert Ken confirmed impressive progress l compared to the jungle scenery he remembered from his more familiar experience of the site. So a solid step on the way to opening up this former north-south passage, allowing cemetery park visitors to walk their way into TH histories, revealed again and remembered once more.

Walking to the lodge and glancing back one last time, it seemed, for a moment, that through the later evening air drifted a fresh mist, rising from the Perkin family tomb, casting a mauve hue along the path we had begun clearing. Stopping still, the near silence was broken only by the new sound of a guitar playing somewhere hidden in the trees, a tune that floated into the semblance of some famous song or other, one by Jimi Hendrix, I recognise now, ah yes, a purple haze, that's the one...

Ending this Goodgym Tower Hamlets group mission report with quick confirmation of a completely ridiculous and entirely invented fantasy moment. But, a fantasy moment fuelled with the restorative qualities of a Goodgym group mission: cooperation, fun, achievement, discovery, and a bit of mauve magic to boot? A welcome blend of qualities as important as ever, set against some of the dispiriting ways of the world we live in.

I hope this kind of Monday night adventure, report and reverie refreshes your spirit to take on the week ahead, in ways it surely does for me :)