It was one of those odd days in Bath, when things are a little different. Missing were the bleached jeans and t-shirts of modern times, replaced by Empire waist gowns, breeches and top hats. Turns out, it is approaching Jane Austen's 250th birthday. So as much as Bath celebrates its connection with Jane Austen everyday, this year it's Celebrating with a big C.

Sydney gardens, I was informed today, is not far from where Jane lived; doubtless she would have frequented this pleasure garden aplenty in her time.

For the GoodGym gang that arrived today though, it was the usual red GoodGym T-Shirts and suitable clothing for gardening. Cosmo, Tanya, Bennath and Meyrick helped our Friends of Sydney Gardens with clearing the area around the ruins of the old outside dining room. We'd cleared this earlier in the year for a visit by the Mayor, but it had grown again, all our work undone by nature's persistence.

It's getting cooler now we leave summer behind though, so with any luck it won't grow back too much before spring.

Also finished moving the last of the sand up to the play park, so there was a sense of completion in today's work.

I have to admit, this Summer still has plenty to give. It's already been a wonderful summer, at least if you don't have to worry about crop yields and test wickets. Even at 10 am this morning it was sweltering, this mainly due I think to the total lack of wind.

Undeterred, three GoodGymmers arrived fully committed to the cause. Aaron, Cosmo and Meyrick gathered together and met our contact with the regular Friends of Sydney Gardens crowd and this time we were back on sand duty.

You see, there is a quite fantastic play area for the kids, but the sand keeps disappearing, probably being redistributed by playful hands and carried away on uncaring shoes. Inevitably, this sand needs replenishing, and that is where we came in.

This is one of those situations where the heavier the substance that needs moving is further away it is stored. So in the tiny hour we had, much of that time is spent moving the sand, in wheelbarrows, most of the way across the park. I suggested to our leader there, that if the sand could be delivered to a location closer to the play area, we could probably do the whole thing in an hour, as it was we probably managed 15%. It was a sic work out though, we were all wiped out by the end.

To quote Ruth, we achieved ‘allot’ in an hour helping tidy Newbridge Primary School’s allotment. It needed a whole allota love indeed; the small beds, compost bins and surrounding area had been left for the bindweed to cover and choke everything in its wake. Surprisingly some hardy rhubarb and strawberry plants had continued to grow, fighting for space amidst it all.
Ruth, Tanya, Cosmo and Kate set to the task at hand with lots of energy, focusing initially on one bed, removing all the weeds and bindweed that got in their way. Once this was achieved and it was time to add some fresh new plants! Chives, Rosemary and Basil were added to the edges and no doubt the children will be greeted with the lovely fragrance as they walk by. Flowers were also added for a bit of colour. It was an hour well spent, and we’ve had a thank you from the headmaster for our contribution (true story). Good work all, and hopefully will be invited back to help finish the job.