Once bug sprayed we headed into the depths (sort of) of the woods to remove more Himalayan balsam. It is deceptive at first as looks like there is not much around and then you realise it’s all balsam! Some of it was even towering above us and starting to flower, but fortunately no seeds popping yet. We had so much to do we didn’t even have time for the litter pick!

The Ludlow Infant School Summer Fayre was great fun, with Wilson on the basketball stall, Sarah helping children fish through slime to find hidden shapes, Leszek running the hunt for the special lollipop, and Joana bringing the excitement at Spin the Wheel.

Joana also managed the sporting moment of the event, casually throwing a basketball backwards and netting it!

I think we were all "relieved" at not being given the "job" of running "Get the Poo in the Loo" game.

Maple joined me to put the tail into tailwalking today, while Steph completed her first parkwalk, speedy Hannah and Orla ran and scanned, Beth joined for her second GG and fastest 5k of the year, and Sarah represented us in the middle of the pack! Afterwards we went to our favourite refill shop where we help litter pick, Lemon and Jinja, for refreshments.

As the grass was very overgrown I got to work trying to strim it down for fear the lawnmower would clog and overheat if used. It was hard work strimming and some of the weeds couldn’t be cut through at all. After a small section was cleared to allow access to the seating area I began to mow over what had been strimmed to try to neaten it up. Some sections of weeds were too tough to get through with the mower or the strimmer, but unfortunately there were no other tools available to help with cutting this down. I managed to get the mower working for long enough to cut more than half of the back garden and cleared the start of the path before it was time to go. Mr M was very appreciative and gave me a can of Diet Coke to refresh.

Nine of us headed to Aldermoor Farm yesterday, with a surprise addition to the team! Beth, who we normally help out at Rose Road, decided to join us as a GoodGym member! It took Wilson a moment to work out why she was standing at Aldermoor Farm rather than Rose Road - doesnt take much to confuse.

Our main task was tackling the notoriously overgrown hedge. We've cut it back many times before, but this time it had really got out of hand. Six members of the team attacked it from both sides and did an incredible job, although I suspect there are a few aching arms today after such a serious workout.

Meanwhile, Beth joined Sarah on the onion bed for some much-needed weeding, carefully untangling the ever-persistent bindweed.

Wilson also got stuck in, cutting back several other overgrown bushes by the pond.

By the end of the session, we could take a group photo by the hedge which wouldn't have been possible before we started!

Epic work team - thankyou

At first we were unsure if all the balsam had already been bashed by another volunteer group as we arrived to piles hung from trunks here, there and everywhere. Once we moved a bit further into the undergrowth we found an abundance of red rooted aliens to pull! Unfortunately they seemed to be surrounded by an impenetrable wall of nettles too so we had to carefully pull around them while also getting pestered by mosquitoes despite a good soaking in bug spray beforehand. It wasn't long before we had made a good dent and were ready to head off. Before that though we had quite the scare pulling a furry thing from the undergrowth that the balsam had grown into. It turned out to be a teddy bear and not a previously alive furry thing fortunately. Giorgio Beverley Hills bear was actually a bit of an antique as came from 1998. Selling for £9.72 on Ebay in mint condition but alas our Giorgio was very much not in mint condition and did in fact have balsam growing out his head and a host of worms and bugs!