And what a lovely morning it was, dry and bright, warm and breeze free. I was even early, there was optimism in the air the likes of which I haven't felt for ages.

Lovely Alice Park Community Garden, a firm favourite amongst the GoodGym Bath collective, this morning was host to Cosmo, Nev and Meyrick and today's task was (I may be exaggerating a little here) a full on on engineering masterclass.

First there was what they call their chandelier, a wrapped and packaged collection of dried leaves and plants in the shape of a hanging chandelier. This had been suspended beneath the centre of their covered area, but the wind had gotten the better of it and it had blown down to the ground. Our task was to re-suspend it and if we could engineer a way to raise and lower it, then so much the better.

We actually achieved a solution to this, however the friction of string on wood made it impossible to move. What we need are a few eyelets to run the string through, which were not available on the day but should be when we return next month.

As if we hadn't engineered the poop out of things already, we had time left to construct a frame to support a squash bed that would be growing on it. This needed to be pretty sturdy as squashes are heavy. Again, solution found, I bet even the biggest squash in the world could hang off of that.

We can check out how good our work has been in a month when we return, come and join us on one of GoodGym Bath's favourite missions!!

There was a time when I would have stayed in bed late in a Sunday morning, or an even more questionable time when I would drag myself to the downstairs sofa to watch the Hollyoaks Omnibus on T4 (ah those were the days).

No longer!! Now I'm a member of GoodGym, Sundays are all about getting up early and getting some rewarding outdoor voluntary work done. Trust me, if you are thinking about joining us, it's way better than the couch/Hollyoaks omnibus solution.

This morning, we had the wonderful Cosmo, Aaron, Bennath and Meyrick attend, with our ever galvanised contact at the Friends of Sydney Gardens, Gill, deciding that weeding around the tennis courts was the task to today.

We've done this numerous times before, but as we all know weeds grow back almost as quickly as you can remove them. IT was lovely to sit, weed and chat amongst ourselves in the hour we had there, but all agree that the time flew by. We finished it off with a visit to the Holburne Museum cafe before parting ways. This is a great way to spend a Sunday morning so come on and get on board!

OK, rubbish pun - I've done better. However, what a wonderful mission this was. It's beginning to feel like spring is here now, and this evening was dry and mild if slightly wanting for a little more sunshine.

We always love missions at St John's Court, we meet a few of the residents every time (and they are lovely). Their response to our presence is so warm and welcoming we really feel like we are making a difference to people's lives. These life-changing individuals were Ruth, Tanya, Emily, Bennath and Meyrick.

This mission was all about weeding, exactly the same section as we do every spring, the patio outside the common room gets overrun by the all manner of nasties and it's our job to remove them. Supplied with some awesome tools to complete the job, including a battery powered crevice tool (which to our credit we shared amongst us all before it's battery died).

We did a lot in the hour that we were there, didn't quite get all of it done but we are back in a month for more!!

There were bells on a hill
But I never heard them ringing
No, I never heard them at all
'Til there was you

There were birds in the sky
But I never saw them winging
No, I never saw them at all
'Til there was you

So sang a young Paul McCartney in 1963. The link between GoodGym Bath in 2026 and the Beatles is that we were ourselves using a 'Till' today, to till the ground. It's a tenuous link driven by the need to find a decent pun but I'll take it.

I have attempted to add to the lyrics with my own, describing the task that drew Ruth, Aaron, Bennath and Meyrick to Bath City Farm on such a surprisingly sunny and warm April morning.

There were four on a hill
But I never saw them planting
No I never saw them at all
'til there was you

Fifteen Hazel trees
But I never saw their saplings
No I never saw them at all
'til there was you

Then there was digging
And wonderful poses
They tell me on steep sunbaked hillsides
Of brawn and hew

There were spades all around
But I never heard them digging
No, I never heard it at all
'Til there was you

(And just for the purposes of copyright, lyrics by Lennon-McCartney-Williams)

It's always nice when someone comes to watch while you're on a GoodGym mission. You want to make a good impression in the hope that they might consider becoming a GoodGymer too. In this case our audience was a magnificent black ram. So no hope of him donning the red t-shirt any time soon. In fact we suspect he was only there to tuck in to the fresh foliage we provided with our weeding.

Yes we were back at the city farm, complete with pigs, goats, alpacas, chickens and the aforementioned sheep. Our task was to clear a patch of land of dead stems and very much alive weeds ready for sowing with a pick and mix pack of wildflowers.

There was added excitement in that the farm is set on the southern slopes of Bath and our allotted field was at quite a gradient. But Bennath took it in her stride and Cosmo threw himself into the task - almost literally. Jason and I operated at ground level - which was nothing at all like a game of pick-up sticks, I just thought it would make a fun pun.

We'll be back next week - those seeds need some sowing

This Sunday we were back delivering roast dinners for Odd Down residents who can't make the monthly community lunch put on by St Philip's Church. Only four people had signed up but they really appreciate their takeaway.

Mary and I put some welly into the deliveries so they were still hot when they arrived. It also proved to be a proper workout because we had to bring back a donation to base - and come back with change. I made the mistake of putting a fiver through the letterbox and it was snapped up by the dog. Oops.

For people that come to the meals it's a chance to catch up and not feel so alone For those who are housebound it's a reminder that the church cares. We'll be back next month.