Five Goodgymers went on a trek along the River Crane to tackle Himalayan balsam for the Friends of the River Crane (FORCE). On a humid summer day we dawned our long sleeves and trouser to pick the invasive balsam out from sky high nettles and brambles. It was prickly business. It seems endless but we managed to clear a large section along the Crane and go home to lick our wounds.

The annual GG Richmond battle with the highly invasive Himalayan balsam scourging local riverbanks has commenced and on a fiery Saturday morning, four fearless warriors stepped into the leafy arena.

While a few plucky nettles defending the tall foes hit their mark, they were no match for our gang who snipped and trampled them out of the way to reach the balsam, which they whipped from the ground to the sound of the familiar and satisfying ‘pop’ that only comes from defeating them roots and all.

Although there was some dappled shade to be had in the sheltered riverside oasis, it was certainly a warm one and when the deed was done our champions each departed to their chosen location for a horizontal afternoon.

Seven GoodGymers came out on Monday to work on the River Crane. We donned our chest waders and ventured into the mirth not knowing how deep it would be. The rain earlier in the day had raised the River levels considerably but Ken (standing on the bank) assured us that it would only be up to our waists! In we went like moths to a flame…. We were here to manage Himalayan balsam for FORCE (Friends of River Crane) a global invasive species that chokes out natives. We saw them across the river in the reeds and got to work pulling out the annual before it set seed. Ken told us we are part of a experiment to use a biological control in time using a specific rust that infects the balsam but first we needed to dig out some to get the numbers down. And to that we had a great time yanking out the weeds in our waders!

The threatened rain held off as 6 Richmond GGers gathered at the Homemead Residential Care Home to help tidy their garden area.

There was a distinct lack of gardening tools available, so we focused our efforts on sweeping up the leaf litter strewn across the garden and in the flower beds, managing to fill a number of black bags.

Not much more to say on this one! Welcome back to Alex and Steph for their second and fourth good deeds respectively!