With the help of two brilliant conservationists and some great weather, I had another session at Warnham Green, this time building a dead hedge. Gathering material cleared by volunteers last week, and prepared in the interim by our hard working conservationists, we set to the patch of green by the pavement at the bottom of the slope.

This area has been much maligned, by dumping of green waste, plastics, nitrous canisters and other problems. It's also overgrown with brambles and nettles, but still gets trampled in winter. Our aim was to thin the weeds, give more space to the lovely white comfrey growing along the roadside, as well as the lesser celandine scattered through the patch, and to clear up some of the junk.

And, of course, we built a dead hedge! This will help drive footfall around the edge of the patch, so the flowers we're trying to help flourish don't get trampled.

Six Goodgymmers gathered for another double whammy of leafleting for the lovely Phoenix Cinema and the artsdepot.

A few of us were already warmed up: Daniel and Kadir trekked over from Henley's Corner to the Phoenix. Welcome toKadir forhis first session! George and Subham ran from their respective corners of Finchley. Rachel and Theodore had some catching up to do, so we set off on a long trek down into the larger houses in East Finchley.

Starting just off the Bishops Avenue, we trekked down a side road to the A1 and back again, then up Deansway to the top of Brim Hill. Then we did all the way down Brim Hill to Hill Top, followed by Hill Top to Brookland Rise, where we finally ran out of leaflets. Daniel and Kadir parted ways with us then, as they'd almost clocked 10km for the evening, while the rest of ran the remaining path back to the Phoenix.

All in, one of our longer runs, clocking in a little over 5km, excluding the many drives and pathways we walked up and down, and a great boost for cultural visibility.

An ace team of volunteers came together on the green at Warnham Road for a solid session to improve biodiversity.

Four Goodgymmers, two conservationists and a couple of neighbours gathered to mince and bash brambles, rake soil and pile up dead hedge material for the next session.

The conservationists went above and beyond, teaching us how to use the tools effectively and how to be careful with our work, checking for habitats and protecting any creatures we found.

Some could only stay an hour, others a bit longer, but huge thanks to the die hard conservationists for staying for over 4 hrs to get the main tasks finished!

We'll be back soon to try and get a few more tasks finished before spring warms up, to give seeds that have been choked by bramble the best chance of flourishing.

With the clocks sprung forward and the light lingering a little longer, we gathered as usual outside the Phoenix Cinema for our pre-run chat on a beautiful spring evening. Better still, we were joined by two new recruits, always a welcome sight.Kbrom and Kidanemariam

To keep things simple, we kicked off with the important business of sharing our favourite colours, arranged from black to blue. Green turned out to be the winner with two votes, while Subham’s answer, naturally, varied according to mood.

Our task was pleasingly local .. just a 500m run downhill to Cherry Tree Wood, where we were helping the Friends group with some evening conservation work. On the way, and while there was still good light, we made the most of the grassy area for a warm-up: jogging in a wide circle, side steps, knees up, ground touches, direction changes, and a short sprint to catch the person in front. We even had time for a quick throw of the frisbee, which felt like a fine way to welcome the lighter evenings.

At the woods we met fellow volunteers including András and Rodger, who talked us through the tasks. One group cut back raspberries, while the other gathered dry branches and sticks to help create a natural dead hedge protecting the orchard area from the main path. Rodger had recently done a course on the technique, so the fence-building came with extra enthusiasm and know-how.

Soon enough we were hauling branches, building piles, and transporting materials across the site while the sun dropped and the different stages of twilight showed themselves through the trees. It was one of those evenings that reminds you why GoodGym is such a pleasure: fresh air, birdsong, nature, teamwork, and useful work done well. The finished fence looked fantastic too well worth a look in the photos.

After that, it was a short run back up the hill to the Phoenix for a warm-down, some stretches, and our goodbyes.

A lovely evening, great company, two new faces, and another satisfying bit of work for one of our local green spaces.