On a summer Sunday morning, six GoodGymers joined Ben Morris from Clean Up River Brent for a very strange burial. Instead of mourning the dead, we were celebrating life. Instead of saying goodbye, we were welcoming a new beginning for the River Brent.

It wasn't a complete beginning, to be frank. The fourth GoodGym visit this year to Sixty Trees Way in Gurnell was all about planting. Ben brought the leftover hemp agrimony we hadn't finished planting last time, along with some new, lesser-known plugs. A totally new addition was a coir mat with a layer of water-loving grass growing on it.

"We are going to dig a shallow grave here," Ben announced, having chosen a fitting spot on a terraced riverbank.

But before its burial, the mat had to undergo a bit of ritual soaking. The GoodGymers gently placed it in the shallow water at the river's edge and got to work digging and turning the soil. With only one shovel, Kash became the chief gravedigger, while James - a GoodGymer and Himalayan balsam basher in one - diligently broke up the soil with a fork. Scott and Sevan loosened the soil with forks to prepare it for the smaller plugs, while Steph Ducat trimmed the dried reed stems to encourage fresh growth. Meanwhile, Ed ventured into the river to fill a bucket and water the previously planted juncus and iris.

Did I mention that it was Ed's very first GoodGym task? Curious about river conservation and balsam bashing, he showed up bright and early to experience the campaign against invasive species first-hand. Digging, planting, watering, clearing up, and untying bindweed from the reeds gave him a good taste of what Clean Up River Brent is all about. Well, apart from the famed Himalayan balsam bashing. Welcome, Ed! We hope there'll be a next time, and you'll get to find your balsam - although we've been pretty happy to see it's been kept at bay this year!

Once the coir mat's roots had absorbed enough water from the river, Steph and Ed carried it to the terrace, laid it in the shallow grave, covered the edges with soil, and then pinned it down with metal poles to stop it slipping into the river.

Post-burial, the final half-hour of the session was dedicated entirely to planting and watering. Ealing hadn't seen proper rain for almost four weeks, so the new plants were in desperate need of moisture, especially with the forecast for the coming week offering little hope.

Not many burials end with everyone hoping that what's in the grave grows as quickly as possible, but this one certainly did. Now all that's left is for the rain to play its part - or for keen volunteers with buckets and wellies to give the new plants a helping hand.

The third session with Clean Up River Brent this summer eventually brought us a new chapter in the river’s story: planting! After hacking the unwanted plants last month, Andrew, Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash were back at the Gurnell / Sixty Trees Way in Greenford to prepare the riverbank soil for the plants that had finally been delivered to Ben from CURB. The Ealing GoodGymers were joined this time by Maxime from GoodGym Hounslow and balsam bashers Andres and Mark.

While the team was getting into wellies or waders on that hot July morning (it was already 30 degrees!), Ben lined up the boxes with plugs and a bag of reeds in rows. The plants were arranged in the order in which they would be placed on the riverbank:

• Juncus - their grass-looking plugs would be planted directly in the gravel, where the water was shallow; their superpower is to filter the junk out of water - they are amazing at fighting the river pollution!

• Iris - those flowering plants can tolerate either very dry or very damp environments (depending on the variety); their beautiful flowers easily attract both human and pollinator attention.

• Typha a.k.a. bullrush - according to Ben, those were the plants whose dark brown spikes looked like cigars; we couldn’t tell that from the appearance of the young plants yet, but could imagine them as a typical wetland inhabitant that is great at accumulating toxins from polluted water.

• Reeds - or Phragmites; those aquatic plants can easily grow taller than a person (maybe not taller than Ben); their roots are excellent at filtering out impurities from sewage water, which sadly enters the River Brent.

• Hemp agrimony - this herb’s fluffy florets are irresistible for pollinators; despite cannabinum in the name it’s not the cannabis you may be thinking about.

Ben was hoping for three outcomes of our successful planting session:

• Improvement of water quality

• Habitat creation

• Boosting the riverbank’s aesthetic appearance

Before we got to planting this Sunday, we had to spend some time preparing the soil, which, despite being so close to the water, was quite dry in the hot weather - and full of tangled bramble roots! That’s why we’ve left some of the planting fun for another session in two weeks. Fancy joining us in this biodiversity quest? Sign up now!

On the longest day of 2026, four GoodGymers met Ben Morris and the other Balsam Bashers from Clean Up River Brent (CURB) for a biodiversity-boosting mission. It was only 10 am, but with the sun rising so early at this time of year, it already felt almost like afternoon.

Having defeated the invasive Himalayan balsam on the banks of the River Brent near the Brent Viaduct last summer, the next step was to build a fortress of native plants. Earlier this year, CURB had planted purple loosestrife and reeds ("the good guys") in the space reclaimed from Himalayan balsam ("the baddie"). However, much of the riverbank had since been occupied by a different gang: stinging nettles, cleavers and brambles.

With another delivery of reeds still on the way, our mission was to prepare the ground for future planting events. Cue hacking, slashing, lopping, chopping and digging.

Andrew, who fondly remembered his previous slashing mission with CURB, joined regulars Steph Ducat, Sevan and Kash. Armed with wellies, the four GoodGymers ventured down to the riverbank. Sevan and Kash even had the pleasure of dipping their booted feet into the cool river water - a welcome relief on such a hot and thirsty morning.

"Every minute a dive into the water gets more and more tempting!" – Andrew.
"I'd say have a swim, but I cannot say that." – Ben.
"You can swim as long as you're not getting in contact with the water." – Andrew.

Unfortunately, the River Brent isn't exactly a wild swimming destination. The water is known to be heavily polluted, containing sewage and harmful bacteria, making it far from safe for a dip. That's one of the reasons CURB exists. Alongside practical conservation work, the group monitors water quality, removes rubbish, raises awareness through public engagement, and campaigns against sewage pollution in the river system. We'd all love to see the Brent become a clean and thriving ecosystem once again. Encouragingly, a few volunteers spotted fish during the session, proving there is life in the river - but there's still plenty of work to do.

And so we got to work.

Steph wielded a monstrous slasher, mercilessly cutting back unwanted vegetation. Andrew took on the nettles and brambles with shears and a fork. Standing ankle-deep in the river, Sevan focused on the delicate task of rescuing the loosestrife and reeds by removing bindweed and nettles. Kash worked the slope between Steph's assault and Sevan's rescue mission, chopping back nettles and sticky willy.

At one point, alarm was raised when a couple towering hogweed plants were spotted rising above the surrounding vegetation. If you haven't encountered this particular baddie before, giant hogweed is a highly invasive species whose sap can cause severe burns when exposed to sunlight, leading to painful blisters and long-lasting skin damage. Fortunately, Ben confirmed that the plants in question were merely common hogweed rather than their far more sinister cousin, and the slashing could continue.

"These hogweeds are enormous... but not giant." – Sevan.

In a little under two hours of hard work in the sun, we cleared a significant area that is now nearly ready for planting. We left most of the roots for a less dry day, when they'll be easier to dig out. We're looking forward to hearing from Ben about the next delivery of plants so that we can arrange a follow-up session and cement our victory over the baddies by planting more of the good guys along the riverbank!

Clean Up River Brent (CURB), led by Ben Morris, has been very successful in recent years in removing Himalayan balsam from the banks of River Brent. What is Himalayan balsam, and why would anyone want to get rid of it, you may ask. The plant, native to the Himalayas, was brought to the UK in the 19th century for its ornamental qualities. Over the years, it became dominant on many riverbanks across the country. If left unchecked, the invasive balsam can exclude other plants and decrease biodiversity, as it’s not compatible with species living around it. This tallest annual weed (reaching even 3 metres in height!) dies each year and leaves no roots in the soil, which does not help hold the soil together and stop silt from washing into rivers. Silt, in turn, decreases water quality by blocking sunlight from reaching the water and helping spread pollution.

CURB’s plan for 2026 was to reduce balsam in Ealing to zero, and GoodGym Ealing were excited to find a Saturday to help Ben and the team with that ambitious mission. One walker, two runners and four cyclists from GoodGym met the regular Balsam Bashers at Brent Viaduct to walk up- and downstream the river and scour for baby balsam to curb it (pun intended) before it grows and flowers.

James, Richard and Kash went with basher Rachel to visit last year’s balsam hotspots, including a vast area GoodGymers helped clear in 2025. Rachel and Kash, who had done bashing in the nearby locations the previous year, were astonished by how much the place had changed. It was so hard to find any balsam - that might have felt unsatisfying to the bashers, but at the same time, it was proof that the strategy of fighting the invasive plant was working very well. Meanwhile, Sevan and Jo went downstream and found equally low numbers of balsam. With such slim pickings, part of the team - Ash and Amy - were redirected to litter picking, as rubbish in the river seemed way more abundant than the Himalayan invader.

The whole party came together, and regrouped after 90 minutes, as it was nearly impossible to spot any more balsam - the last year’s teams did so well! Resourceful Ben, having spotted “accessible rubbish”, proposed to GoodGymers to spend the last 30 minutes of the session on a litter blitz in the shallow part of the River Brent. The GoodGymers agreed, and in a very short time, retrieved a bag of rubbish each, and hauled some soaked, flytipped duvets - what an impressive and disgusting find!

As the area has mostly recovered from balsam invasion, CURB is now planning to use its budget to buy native plants to plant in selected areas once the balsam has been eliminated. Watch this space for the future sessions with them.

The legend says that it was at Brent River Park's 50th birthday when Kash from GoodGym and Ben, the leader of Clean Up River Brent, fixed a date for a joint wading event in Pitshanger. When the day came, it became clear that the theme would be the famed balsam bash - the removal of invasive plants with stalks like giant celery and purple flowers of stunning beauty. The gorgeous flowers were particularly troublesome as they were starting to explode, sending hundreds of Himalayan Balsam seeds into the air and water.

The Balsam Bashers group assembled on Sunday morning at Pitshanger Park Bowls Pavilion. Rachel, Lara, Bob, and Martin were busy choosing the right size of waders and listening to Ben's health and safety brief. GoodGymers Sevan, Steph, and Kash were already in the park, after volunteering at junior parkrun and queuing for coffee at the park café. Kymm from GoodGym Hounslow, experienced with balsam bashing, joined them shortly to try on waders for the first time. The pair she got was not the most comfortable to walk in.

Kymm: "Are they supposed to be that harsh on the feet?"
Ben: "Is it some sort of grit? I actually like it, but I'm a masochist."

Comfortable or not, waders were worn by everyone to protect skin from Weil's disease and other nastiness hidden in contaminated water. They also shielded us from brambles, nettles, and even giant hogweed. With long rubber gloves, wading poles, and hi-viz, the team was ready for a serious adventure. We wandered west along the River Brent and found a suitable place to carefully descend from the bank. On a hot day, the water felt nice and cool through the waders.

Guided by the wading poles to avoid the treacherous drops in the river bed, we walked downstream, bashing the balsam on the way, some of us from the water, others occasionally from the bank. We went as far as the footbridge leading to St Benedict's School. Before heading off, we took with us some imposing balsam specimens for a special photoshoot by Martin Sapsed for his project documenting the work of volunteers across different fields. Sadly, we had to remove the best-looking flowers to minimise the risk of balsam seeding on the way. We think we still made quite an impression on the park visitors.

Passer-by: "It looks like a religious festival!"

Our pagan procession returned to the pavilion, where Martin assembled us for a carefully designed Balsam Basher group shot.

Martin: "I'm looking for a look of grim determination."

We gave Martin the most serious stares we could muster, then happily took off the waders as we felt we were starting to boil after having left the cooling water. Some would describe the atmosphere of getting released from waders as whiffy. Ben said it's been a year with the most wading involved so far and promised to give the rubbery equipment a thorough wash before the next session. We're looking forward to another CURB event to do good for biodiversity in Ealing and sweat in fresh waders again!

Three GoodGymers, Steph, Sevan and Kash, after a morning of volunteering, decided to attend an ancient wellness ritual taking its roots from the Himalayas. The therapeutic qualities of "balsam bashing" were known to Sevan and Kash. Steph had yet to experience them in his soul and - little had he known - on his skin too!

The trio met Fiona from Ealing Wildlife Group at the North bank of the River Brent in Pear Tree Park. Fiona gave them a brief for the task and rushed back to see her family for a Sunday meal. Minutes later, seasoned Balsam Bashers Rachel and Robert strengthened the team with their expertise and long sleeves and bottoms. GoodGymers (at least some of them) had read the task description and brought some protection for their bare arms and legs. Everyone quickly found out that no one's outfit was impenetrable to the stinging nettles. Nettles were enormous and as ubiquitous - if not more - as the Himalayan balsam, which was the main target for the group. The balsam bash quickly transformed into a nettle & balsam bash!

The team members went in different directions, each on their own way to find nirvana. Seeking the ultimate liberation from suffering, the GoodGymers initially suffered plenty of nettle stings, yet later on, their journey transformed into a transcendental experience. When removing the balsam by pulling it right near the ground, exposing the shallow roots, and breaking and trampling the stems that made the cracking watery sounds, all three felt a connection to something greater than themselves. While destroying the Himalayan plants, they were restoring the balance of nature that had not intended to have balsam spreading in England.

Despite the nettle stings, Steph, Sevan and Kash went into a meditative state, pulling one balsam plant after another. They could do that with no end - but they stuck with the two-and-a-half-hour task slot. Can you imagine such a long GoodGym session to remove invasive plants? Now, you have an idea about how satisfying a balsam bash could be!

After achieving so much for themselves and the biodiversity of the River Brent banks, the GoodGymers were ready to end their spiritual journey with a jog home. But Rachel had one secret to reveal: the Himalayan balsam worked well as a soothing balm for nettle stings - just like aloe vera! Enriched with that piece of transformative knowledge, everyone rubbed broken balsam stalks on their nettle-stung skin and felt immediate relief and a sense of relaxation. What a way to finish the day of Sunday missions!