Spring jobs, proper places

A lovely Friday morning Community Mission at Stephens House and Gardens, working alongside some of the regular volunteer crew in the spring sunshine.

I started in the children’s playground, helping clear back some nettles with Julian. It’s not that nettles aren’t welcome they absolutely are but like most things in a garden, they just need to be in the right place. Stephens House already has a dedicated nettle patch, which is great for butterflies as an egg-laying resource.

After that, I joined Helen in the bog garden .. not especially boggy at the moment after the dry spell where we tackled dock leaves before they had a chance to dominate. Helen is working hard to increase biodiversity in the area, and there was something very satisfying about getting the spade in just right and feeling that deep dock root come free with a satisfying pop.

A couple of hours of simple, purposeful outdoor work, good conversation, and shared effort was rounded off in the best possible way: tea and biscuits in the Bothy garden. Friendly, community-minded, and quietly rewarding a lovely way to spend a Friday morning.

And Gus seemed happy too, back in the park he grew up

With the help of two brilliant conservationists and some great weather, I had another session at Warnham Green, this time building a dead hedge. Gathering material cleared by volunteers last week, and prepared in the interim by our hard working conservationists, we set to the patch of green by the pavement at the bottom of the slope.

This area has been much maligned, by dumping of green waste, plastics, nitrous canisters and other problems. It's also overgrown with brambles and nettles, but still gets trampled in winter. Our aim was to thin the weeds, give more space to the lovely white comfrey growing along the roadside, as well as the lesser celandine scattered through the patch, and to clear up some of the junk.

And, of course, we built a dead hedge! This will help drive footfall around the edge of the patch, so the flowers we're trying to help flourish don't get trampled.

Six Goodgymmers gathered for another double whammy of leafleting for the lovely Phoenix Cinema and the artsdepot.

A few of us were already warmed up: Daniel and Kadir trekked over from Henley's Corner to the Phoenix. Welcome toKadir forhis first session! George and Subham ran from their respective corners of Finchley. Rachel and Theodore had some catching up to do, so we set off on a long trek down into the larger houses in East Finchley.

Starting just off the Bishops Avenue, we trekked down a side road to the A1 and back again, then up Deansway to the top of Brim Hill. Then we did all the way down Brim Hill to Hill Top, followed by Hill Top to Brookland Rise, where we finally ran out of leaflets. Daniel and Kadir parted ways with us then, as they'd almost clocked 10km for the evening, while the rest of ran the remaining path back to the Phoenix.

All in, one of our longer runs, clocking in a little over 5km, excluding the many drives and pathways we walked up and down, and a great boost for cultural visibility.

An ace team of volunteers came together on the green at Warnham Road for a solid session to improve biodiversity.

Four Goodgymmers, two conservationists and a couple of neighbours gathered to mince and bash brambles, rake soil and pile up dead hedge material for the next session.

The conservationists went above and beyond, teaching us how to use the tools effectively and how to be careful with our work, checking for habitats and protecting any creatures we found.

Some could only stay an hour, others a bit longer, but huge thanks to the die hard conservationists for staying for over 4 hrs to get the main tasks finished!

We'll be back soon to try and get a few more tasks finished before spring warms up, to give seeds that have been choked by bramble the best chance of flourishing.

Thanks to everyone who took part in our March Any Place, Anywhere litter pick and sent in photos. Great to see people getting involved in such a simple, flexible, feel-good community mission. Gus even helped me with mine this month!

Litter picking is basically training: walking, squatting, spotting, lifting, and improving your local area all at once. So why not get in training with GoodGym for April’s Any Place, Anywhere litter pick?

Do it whenever suits you, wherever you are. Please share and encourage anyone else who might want to join in. Let me know if you’d like to take part.

here’s a note from Jacaqui

Sally and I litterpicked enroute to the theatre again® . There was so much litter that we were still half a mile away once we'd filled our bags • Will take more bags next time .

Subham and I joined John and Hannah to help clear old log boards from the path where they were stopping vegetation from growing properly. We moved the wood into separate piles, creating habitat for insects and leaving some material aside for possible burning.

Simple task, good company, and plenty of chat while we worked.

Darlands is a special local nature reserve, with woodland, wetland and lake habitat that supports wildlife and helps the wider local environment. The lake has also recently been dredged, which should improve water capture, benefit wildlife and help reduce flood pressure further down the river system.

A nice straightforward mission, but exactly the sort of practical support that helps a local green space thrive.