Tonight York's Shiny Happy Good Gymers were joined by two new members - Dylan and Mark, welcome! We congratulated Stefan on Accelerating through the TEWV 10km and Amy for completing the London Marathon - we hear she ran So Fast, she went Numb.

We headed to a new location for us: Carleton Street Play Area, in The Great Beyond behind the station. This was a place shrouded in mystery - it was unknown to Google Maps, and to Nicola, a GGer who lives nearby. It was a regular Ignoreland. Some GGers were worried that you Can't Get There From Here, and others expressed concerns that it was Half A World Away and that it might even be necessary to Drive, but we got there in the end.

We got to work plucking the site from obscurity by removing the brambles, nettles and burgeoning buddleia that concealed it. Kit dug down Low to uproot brambles, and was Feeling Gravity's Pull as he fearlessly climbed Up to saw off branches. Luckily he didn't Fall On Me. Ed was working so hard he managed to break a spade in half - he was having a Bad Day. We didn't Find a River, but we did Reveal a beautiful community garden with a winding path and a great big Rock(ville) in the centre.

Out of Time, we headed on for some heavy duty Circuits Envy led by the lovely Vicky. The skipping ropes were a particular highlight. Several GGers gave an impressive display of rope handling, while a few were Kings of Comedy, giving us all a laugh with an impressive display of ineptitude. Whether you're being stung by nettles, snagged by brambles or whacked in the face with a skipping rope, Everybody Hurts. Despite this we all agreed that we'd had a Funtime, and we repaired to The Ackhorne for stretching and, with minimal Pretty Persuasion, a pint.

Mark Dylan Ed Stefan Kit Vicky Nicola

Tonight's bumper turnout came with its own challenges as Ed turned from run leader to shepherd in order to keep things going as smoothly as you've come to expect from Monday night group run. With newcomer Nathan yet to appear we were stuck celebrating Chris's brunch at the weekend, before Charlotte saved the day with something actually worth applauding having climbed a particularly difficult climb! But just in the nick of time Nathan arrived and received a warm welcome, before we set off. Give him a big cheer 🎉

Laura set off first with a walking group, before Ed led out the run with Amy backmarking. After a short run out we met taskowner Maeve on New Walk and split the group into 2 with Pete leading the breakaway team to Millennium Fields (more from him later).

At New Walk the team got to work, armed with scythes and spades, removing the docks to make way for less invasive species. James S, Katy, Martin and Kit made light work of the big clump of docks with some epic scything, whilst the rest of the team got stuck in digging up the roots and getting them into sacks ready to be moved down to Millennium fields to meet the others later on.

We picked up a few extra bodies as Pete's crew completed their job, which made for a mad flurry of activity towards the end before we started the short walk down to meet the other group. This is what they had been up to...

After dropping the scythers and dandelion pullers off a group of 10 were led by Pete to Millennium Fields, a place of many a task. After finding the hidden stash of tools it was not hard to find the big pile of woodchip. Getting stuck in we soon realised that one barrow was not enough and while some managed to cup some in their hands Charlotte did a quick dash to her allotment for an extra spade and a very big drag bag. That allowed us to very quickly shovel, rake and stamp the path until the pile had miraculous disappeared. Nice to see Holly return after joining us for her first task in Jan and proceedings were scrutinised throughout by the part carbon fibre, part hero that is Vicky. Soon after we were joined by Ed's crew for fitness fun.

Fitness tonight involved trying to keep a "pizza" on your hand whilst running around and being chased. All perfectly normal stuff and not in the least bit confusing for onlookers from Millennium bridge!

Four fantastic Goodgymers got a good arm workout hauling out boxes to set up the monthly book sale at Tang Hall Library. There were lots of great books on all sorts of topics: James indulged his love of the celebrity memoir, while Holly checked out the very latest styles in (1970s) knitwear and Amy picked up an introduction to nothing (?!). All the proceeds will go to support this great community venue.

Edwin Hood of Holgate left the Forest of Sherwood to help the sylvan Shangri-La of Stinky Foot Ryer (AKA York Tiny Forest). Our local legend Becca Maude Marion was awarded the black cape of 50 good deeds - a double award ceremony that deserved chocolate. Friar Tuck and Aidan arrived and the foraging of mulch from Holgate Allotment began. Soon Tristan-a-Dale's trusty truck was filled with bags of wood chip, 2 wheelbarrows and 4 strong GoodGymers as Alastair joined us. Sadly there was no room for Aidan's bike, so he swiftly cycled across town, very nearly beating the wood chip. Once at the Forest we met Hollie who was warmly welcomed and introduced to the fun that is GoodGym. She quickly locked up her bike, donned gloves and headtorch, grabbed a wheelbarrow and got stuck in. Swiftly the heavy bags of chippings were taken from the truck, carried across the wobbly road, loaded into barrows to be pushed through the swamp and up the steep muddy hill to the dark forest. We had a quick look around and were pleased to see tree buds, catkins and signs of life in the oxygenating plants in Lucy's pond. Looking forward to going back very soon to spread the mulch, plant some of the donated dormant trees and enjoy a picnic in good company.