A short, sharp workout

No fewer than 9 GoodGymers joined for tonight’s short workout outside the Soanes Centre!

Welcoming first time GoodGymer Georgina, we popped bags to one side in order to get cracking on tonight’s short workout.

We started with a few dynamic stretches before moving to the obligatory single-leg squats; a seated abdominal exercise and a couple of lunge variations, before finishing with a handful of stretches.

We then made our way over to the toolshed to see Ken, the Park Manager of the Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, and our task owner for tonight.

After a short intro, we piled wheelbarrows with gloves and bags, and headed over to tonight’s location, a little way into the park.

The best briefing in the world

Ken then gave his usual brilliant briefing, covering all aspects of health and safety as well as a speedy masterclass in goose grass and cow parsley removal.

Starting work on both sides of the park path, GoodGymers wasted no time in filling many barrows with these common weeds.

It was a productive evening, made all the more enjoyable by the daylight (and even a glimpse of sun).

At just gone quarter to eight, we wheeled the last barrow around to the weed pile and slowly made our way back to base via a most scenic route.

We said our final cheerios to Ken, delighted to be returning next month, to lend a hand helping to maintain this much-loved, beautiful park.

Next week, we’re back to the Columbia Road gardens!

Until then.

Two Circles squad rolled up with enthusiasm and numbers, as we strolled over to Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, an afternoon of giving back to the community lay ahead.

After admiring the Cable Street Mural, we got a brief history lesson by one of the knowledgeable Two Circle employees. A squad picture later and Terry had arrived, providing a wonderful introduction to the area, the history of the church, local wildlife, famous burials in the grounds and the job ahead. Terry is a member of volunteers, Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, a group that nurtures the land for others to enjoy.

A momentary spitting of rain ceased for us to be bathed in dappled sunshine for the rest of the session, we were to plant various bulbous flowers into the Church Gardens. Sweet Violets, daffodils, snow drops and another flower I now can't remember. Some of the Two Circles team weren't seasoned gardeners, but made up for it with a fuss-free, positive attitude. We estimated that around 300 – 400 flowers were planted. Some were clumps of bulbs, so probably many more flowers to be produced – courtesy of you all! An explosion of floral hues, increasing the wellbeing of those that pass through the park, not a bad afternoon’s work.

Thanks for making my job an absolute breeze guys, hope you got out of it as much as you put in.

Cheers

A relatively mild Monday evening saw 11 GoodGymers join Ken from the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park (FoTHCP) for a big ivy-removal session this evening.

Having gathered at the park entrance from 6:40 for tonight’s Standing Abs Workout, shortly after 7pm we were gathering the last of the loppers and lining up the wheelbarrows ready to make our way around to tonight’s task location.

The best health and safety briefing ever

Following Ken through what appeared to be a particularly dense section of the park, we arrived at our designated spot, where Ken proceeded to run through ‘the best health and safety briefing ever’.

Tonight we were pulling ivy away from graves, headstones and undergrowth, allowing gravestones to be visible and ground to be clear of this densely-growing climber.

Ken ran through the ivy removal basics, from the role of the lopper to the whys and wherefores of controlling this pretty plant, after which the team promptly grabbed gloves and head torches and chose a spot at which to start.

Stubborn stems

We were relieved to have the additional lighting, as, although only a few days from the next full moon, without head torches and work lights, locating and plucking the ivy could have been a tricky task.

As the first five wheelbarrows were piled high with ivy, a willing wheeling team quickly assembled. Ken accompanied the barrows to the park’s green waste pile, returning with some pungent bin bags.

With a ten-minute countdown given at 7:50, GoodGymers proceeded to move far behind the gravestones for a final push.

At 8pm, we gathered tools and trash and made our way back through the dark park, excited for our next visit.

A big shout-out to everyone for a productive and fun night with the FoTHCP team.

Next week, we head up to Bow Road, for another fun and varied evening with Frankie and Kieran at the GET OUT garden.

Until then.

GoodGymer by GoodGymer, tonight's group slowly but surely increased in size.

It was a decent-sized group who ploughed through tonight's workout (as many standing body weight exercises as we could think of, in 20 minutes).

As we focused on every-type-of-lunge, task owner Ken prepared tonight's kit: the best collection of rakes and working wheelbarrows in East London. At 18:58 we were gathering for tonight's briefing, before donning head torches and gloves galore and making our way through this beautiful-but-dark park.

Raking basics

Arriving at a fantastically well-lit spot, Ken proceeded to talk us through tonight's raking basics.

Our job was to clear leaves from 100m of chalk wildflower banks on the southern boundary of the park (the fallen autumn leaves can prevent fertility returning to the meadow, which would make the meadow less suitable for delicate wildflowers and grasses. If left unraked, the conditions could change enough to 'better suit nuisance plants such as Nettles, Bindweed and Cow Parsley, thereby losing the wildflower diversity').

Our task was to work along the bank, methodically raking the leaves off the meadow, gathering them into barrows and relocating them to the park's green waste site for shredding.

The team wasted no time in getting down to work. Spread out along this pretty bank, the raking soon commenced, and it wasn't long before large piles of leaves were being wheeled over to the huge green waste pile.

We made it to the end of the bank in good time, counting no fewer than 24 trips to the compost heap!

Way to go team!

A great night enjoyed by all.

Shout-outs to Lily and Dorota who joined us for their first Monday night task! Great to see you and we look forward to seeing you again very soon.

Thanks and well done to Emma, who was tasked with 'Dropped Pin-duty' again tonight and a fabulous joint effort for tonight's fun pun from Millie, Lily, Esme and Emma.

Next week we head back to the gorgeous Town Hall Hotel and Cranbrook Community Garden for gardening, running, and a post-task stretch. Don't miss out!

(And don't forget, Friday sees the return of the London GoodGym Social!)

Until then.

“Where did the wind come from?”, exclaimed the first few arrivals at tonight’s task.

Gathering by the Cable Street Mural in Shadwell, we glanced in to St George’s Gardens, home of tonight’s task, to see if there was any shelter from the wind (there wasn’t).

Opened to the public in 1875, these are ‘probably one of Tower Hamlets' least known historic public Gardens’, according to Tower Hamlets Council. “Through a ten month period, the Gardens have undergone a major refurbishment with support from the National Lottery Heritage Lottery Fund. New paths, planting and grass areas have been laid out and significant heritage features including monuments and walls have been conserved and repaired.”

We were soon joined by task owner Terry, from the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park. (Terry worked as an environmental education officer for a local charity for 22 years. Now an Honorary Trustee of the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, we’ve been lucky enough to enjoy a few tasks led by Terry, whose extensive knowledge combined with a dry sense of humour help make these outdoor Autumn evening tasks an absolute joy).

After a full introduction to the area, including the neighbouring B&B and the Register Office (yes, that’s right – no typo), we proceeded to make our way around to the left corner of the park to plant 350 bluebells just by the Register Office. Working in small teams, we followed Terry’s careful instructions, and accomplished the task fairly speedily I'd say.

Moving further around the left side of the park, towards the Highway end, we then got to work planting hundreds of tulips, daffodils and - last but not least – anemones. (Anemone bulbs are interesting-looking things: a little misshapen - unlike the usual bulb shape - and this last minute addition to our planting task was quite the area of interest).

At around 8:15, we decided to call it a day, promising we’d return for a picnic next year, to see what looks set to be a fabulous array of carefully-planted flowers.

Another lovely start to the week.

Next Monday, we’re back to the great GET OUT garden in Bow, to see Kieran and Frankie!

Until then.

A gorgeous night for it.

16 GoodGymers gathered together at The Soanes Centre this evening, ready for an active, useful task in the beautiful Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park.

What we were doing?

We met with the Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park team first, to collect wheelbarrows and gloves – and instructions. Park Manager Ken whizzed through the park’s fascinating facts, covering everything from wildlife to top cow parsley-plucking tips.

We then made our way through the centre of the park, to the area near The Big Green Pile (as it sounds) where we covered the basics of tonight’s task: pulling out cow parsley.

Why were we doing it?

Cow parsley can be invasive, taking up light and space. Without any control, the plant and its seeds spread quickly. Removing the flowering stem in late Spring helps manage this plant in this huge, much loved, historic cemetery and nature reserve.

How we got on

The team worked - you guessed it – tirelessly as usual. Getting to grips very quickly with these tough stems, the area started to look transformed very quickly. Working in groups on both sides of the park path, GoodGymers filled barrow after barrow with armfuls of the cow parsley.

With all that squatting, plucking and wheeling, it proved to be quite the Monday night workout. The time sped by, and before we knew it, it was well after 8 and we were wheeling the final barrow back to The Big Green Pile, to pose for one last picture.

We strolled back to base, grateful to Richard from the FOTHCP team for taking barrows and gloves off our hands.

Another fantastic night - well done everyone.

The big shout-outs

…To Giorgio, Yelda, and Alex who joined us for the very first time. You did such a great job, and we hope to see you again very soon.

To Emma who worked hard at Cow Parsley pun research.

To our Task Force (John, Chris, Fiona, Aine and Emma) who project manage-d tonight; helped plan the next few weeks, and who generally do loads behind the scenes.

…And to the whole team tonight, for such a fabulous start to the week.

Until next time.