A happy return to Petersham & Ham Sea Scouts last night where scout leader Russell, surely one of the hardest-working scouts ever, had tasks ready and raring to go for us!

The group started with an intro and marathon congratulations for Steph Ducat and Adam, as well as Susan and Sarah who were getting some well-deserved rest in! It wasn't a sunny evening but the Richmond riverside has its own charm for a 2.5km run to the scout base.

Russell introduced us to the cycle of driftwood that comes in on the high tide and rips up the plants and growth in the wooded area. One group collected large pieces to add to the bug houses and get them out of the tide line while the other group emptied the woodshed of last year's dried out driftwood to be used for kindling at campfires. Next time we will be collecting the smaller piece from the grounds to go into the woodshed to dry out for next year!

Bugs aplenty and lots of heavy-lifting action made this a lively workout before a run back into Richmond town centre. Join us on Sunday back at the Scout base to help with the next stage.

It was a dazzlingly sunny Sunday morning which saw 4 Richmond GoodGymers gather at the Petersham & Ham Sea Scouts for our last visit of 2023.

The scouts had a big bonfire on Saturday evening and our tasks this morning were all part of the big clean up. The fire was still smouldering from the previous evening, allowing us to burn the twigs and small branches littering the area around it.

We then swept up the leaves on the lawn and put them on the compost heap, rolled up the plastic fencing, moved and put away the barriers, tidied up litter bins and dismantled and stored tables from the large hall in the scout hut.

A nice satisfying bunch of jobs to help out Russell and the gang. We'll see them again in 2024!

We were greeted on a brisk but sunny autumn morning at Petersham and Ham Sea Scouts by four upturned and very mucky boats, which needed some TLC before they could be put to bed for the winter. No amount of scrubs would be enough as we set about getting these boats ship-shape.

We donned our Marigolds and had a stern word with ourselves before plunging into the icy waters containing the brushes and suds we needed to get the job done. Bowing to pressure (washer), we decided hose turn it was to use the more powerful equipment to jetsam more silt off the boats.

We soon saw a familiar shape on the horizon, shipmate Sam lived up to his ‘Captain Casual’ reputation by joining the task shortly after finishing The Cabbage Patch 10 in a mere 68 minutes.

Buoy, did the extra pair of hands make a difference, we flotsam good shine on those hulls and weighed anchor to warm these brass monkeys back up.

Although this one shivered our timbers, we’d never jib at helping out such a fantastic organisation. We’ll be back on 5 November to help restore the scorched grass after the Scouts’ annual bonfire night celebrations.

On a baking hot morning we were thrilled to be shown to a task in the shade when we arrived at Petersham and Ham Sea Scouts, where Russell briefed us on the particularly invasive species of sedge that was taking over their grounds and blocking paths.

We got to work clearing it and filling the compost heap by the barrowload, with some of the group also lending a hand to refill on-site water stations the scouts were providing for the Richmond Run-fest event when they were in danger of running out.

We left very warm despite our shady spot, but satisfied that it was a much-needed task well done.

A lovely sunny evening welcomed us for our weekly group run, heading along the riverside to Petersham. It's a wonderful place to be at any time, but summer in Richmond is even more special, with lots of boats, the surprisingly high tide, puppet theatre and evening strollers to observe as we ran past in our red t-shirts!

On arrival at Petersham & Ham Sea Scouts, task owner Russell shared info on what needed doing: caps on the boat scaffolding, moving rotten driftwood away from the floor area where it could dry out, shifting building sand and a team effort to sweep and collect leaves to add to their very fruitful compost heap.

When the work was done, Jack and Teresa were found adventuring with Russell, getting into to the historic Drebbel replica submarine that lives at the scout base. Jack poked his head back up with eyes of wonder, Teresa more with eyes watering from the smell!

A final run back to the centre as the sun set rounded off a lovely evening of GoodGymming.

We were back at the Petersham & Ham Sea Scouts this morning for the first leg of a two-parter which will conclude on Monday evening.

Unfortunately illness had forced a couple of people to drop out. But Divya, Sam and JP all arrived by bike to help Russell and team with the latest task in their ongoing efforts to improve the facilities for the scout group.

This morning the job at hand was moving logs to conserve the better wood and clear the way for a planned woodland pathway.

We collected wheelbarrows from one of the lockups and headed to the front of the grounds near the river. Russell explained where we should stack the logs, separating the good wood (the result of the recent cutting down of trees) from the rotten logs.

Some of the logs were two- or even three-man jobs, and we had a pretty good workout lugging them out. Soon we had cleared enough away to get the barrows in to speed up the collecting of the smaller sections and the collection pile by the driveway was looking impressive.

Kick off in the Women's World Cup final was at 11am so we called time just beforehand and jumped on our bikes. Back tomorrow for another session!