There were bells on a hill
But I never heard them ringing
No, I never heard them at all
'Til there was you

There were birds in the sky
But I never saw them winging
No, I never saw them at all
'Til there was you

So sang a young Paul McCartney in 1963. The link between GoodGym Bath in 2026 and the Beatles is that we were ourselves using a 'Till' today, to till the ground. It's a tenuous link driven by the need to find a decent pun but I'll take it.

I have attempted to add to the lyrics with my own, describing the task that drew Ruth, Aaron, Bennath and Meyrick to Bath City Farm on such a surprisingly sunny and warm April morning.

There were four on a hill
But I never saw them planting
No I never saw them at all
'til there was you

Fifteen Hazel trees
But I never saw their saplings
No I never saw them at all
'til there was you

Then there was digging
And wonderful poses
They tell me on steep sunbaked hillsides
Of brawn and hew

There were spades all around
But I never heard them digging
No, I never heard it at all
'Til there was you

(And just for the purposes of copyright, lyrics by Lennon-McCartney-Williams)

OK, rubbish pun - I've done better. However, what a wonderful mission this was. It's beginning to feel like spring is here now, and this evening was dry and mild if slightly wanting for a little more sunshine.

We always love missions at St John's Court, we meet a few of the residents every time (and they are lovely). Their response to our presence is so warm and welcoming we really feel like we are making a difference to people's lives. These life-changing individuals were Ruth, Tanya, Emily, Bennath and Meyrick.

This mission was all about weeding, exactly the same section as we do every spring, the patio outside the common room gets overrun by the all manner of nasties and it's our job to remove them. Supplied with some awesome tools to complete the job, including a battery powered crevice tool (which to our credit we shared amongst us all before it's battery died).

We did a lot in the hour that we were there, didn't quite get all of it done but we are back in a month for more!!

There was a time when I would have stayed in bed late in a Sunday morning, or an even more questionable time when I would drag myself to the downstairs sofa to watch the Hollyoaks Omnibus on T4 (ah those were the days).

No longer!! Now I'm a member of GoodGym, Sundays are all about getting up early and getting some rewarding outdoor voluntary work done. Trust me, if you are thinking about joining us, it's way better than the couch/Hollyoaks omnibus solution.

This morning, we had the wonderful Cosmo, Aaron, Bennath and Meyrick attend, with our ever galvanised contact at the Friends of Sydney Gardens, Gill, deciding that weeding around the tennis courts was the task to today.

We've done this numerous times before, but as we all know weeds grow back almost as quickly as you can remove them. IT was lovely to sit, weed and chat amongst ourselves in the hour we had there, but all agree that the time flew by. We finished it off with a visit to the Holburne Museum cafe before parting ways. This is a great way to spend a Sunday morning so come on and get on board!