After the end of November gave us a sneaky surprise, four noble Goodgymers added a last-minute task to an already busy week for Goodgym York.

We came, we sorted, we found a new favourite book each - Richard opted for the Ups and Downs of being in your 40s, Nikki learned how to test her cat, Lucy took the Little Book of Cheese... and Mitch managed to pick a book with neither words nor title.

💨 Well, this evening started with various weather-related dramas and changes but all came together in the end, thanks to some tremendous teamwork of the 11 GoodGymmers who braved the stormy weather to attend anyway. (It also didn’t actually rain on us and wasn’t as windy as expected, which was a win!)

📖 One of our two tasks was cancelled due to high winds then my train was thoroughly messed up so Ed and Mitch took the reins for the intro and warm up, which seemed to involve some communal story-telling.

🍎 They then also led the run down to Holgate Orchard and got cracking with some digging. The aim was to dig and level off a patch of ground for a shed and some raised beds to be built once it’s ready. The team got to work, with some folk digging, some raking and others on barrowing and quality control, identifying areas that were not quite level and therefore needed filling. Leanne noticed a particularly large dip in the corner and set to work filling that. In what felt like no time, Helen was happy that the job was done so the tools were taken back to the shed (including the rake, which wasn’t actually meant to go back, whoops!)

🗻 Mitch then led some hill reps on Windmill Rise while some of us walked back to base. We regrouped at CVS and headed to the pub for some good chats (and an exclusive peek at the 2024 pub dog calendar!)

👏 Thank you everyone, we’ve had a few additional tasks added this week (Thursday evening and Sunday morning) so do join if you can.

🎬 *Pun is related to a certain “classic” 90’s film, rather than anything else…

🌧️ 18 excellent GoodGymmers gathered for our weekly group run. The rain may have been present when we first arrived but it quickly absented itself for the rest of the evening, which was greatly appreciated.

🎇 We named, numbered and warmed up by discussing bonfire night. There were some fans and some not-so-fans (mostly for pet/environment-related reasons, so fair enough). We did learn that it took Lucy’s family 17 matches to light a sparkler though, which is pretty impressive!

✌️ We split into two groups, with Mitch leading the way to Holgate Community Orchard. Here’s what he had to say about their task:

🧱 At Holgate Orchard, we were tasked with clearing a large area of ivy, transferring the soil pile into this section and flattening it. The idea is the area will have a shed, shrubbery and raised beds on it by spring. With that in mind we had no time to lose! A few of us got to work clearing as much ivy and roots as possible, whilst the largest group were digging up a large pile of soil and laying it over this section. There was even time for some litter (i.e. brick) picking.

🍎 After making progress, we came to our two main obstacles. Very large roots and old carpets. We needed to remove these before we could transfer any more soil. So through teamwork (driven by a determined Carl) we removed the roots and carpet.

👌 We made a large headway on this task, and will definitely be back soon!

🌹 The rest of us headed to West Bank Park, Ed leading the running group while four of us cycled. We knew the drill and quickly got to work. Ed and Stef were appointed skip-based shovellers while the rest of the gang shuttled wheelbarrows of compost to and from the rose garden. With one more barrow than barrowers, we were able to maximise efficiency this time (though some people were sad they didn’t get a break between barrow-loads!)

🐾 Kristina has brought cardboard and plastic sheets to try and protect the ground from getting any more muddy and Penny (and Wookie!) did a good job of directing everyone on their first trips there!

💪 It was certainly quite the workout, with tonnes (maybe not literally) of compost moved, miles covered and muscles built. Good work everyone, and if you missed it, don’t worry as we’ll be back there next week.

🗻 After a quick group photo, Mitch has invited us to join their group for some hill reps on Windmill Rise. So without further ado, the runners headed there while the cyclists helped Kristina pack up (ensuring the wheelbarrows were appropriately tessellated and the little stuffed pig that appeared from nowhere found a home!) It was soon time to head back to base and onto home or the pub.

👏 Thank you everyone, see you again soon!

👻 18 excellent GoodGymmers gathered for another two-task Monday evening, the evening before Halloween. The rain had (basically) stopped so we were raring to go. Neither task was particularly close so Ed’s Heworth group and Vicky’s party pace Foxwood group both set off promptly. The rest of us named, numbered and warmed up while hearing about our favoured trick and/or treat. Treats varied from whisky to bonfire toffee while tricks involved clothes pegs and (fake) dog poo!

🖐️Here’s what Ed had to say about the Heworth five:

🍁 The slightly longer run team set off promptly from Priory Street to meet task owner Roger at Heworth Community Centre. We armed ourselves with rakes and made our way round the corner to a field that will be familiar to many GoodGymmers after several previous raking trips over the years. We soon got to work raking up the leaves and cuttings, gathering them on to sheets of tarpaulin and then disposing of them in a nearby copse of trees. After several full loads of tarp, we made our way back to the Priory Centre with a quicker pace because I don't think Tristan could have lasted too much longer without eating his tea!

🌺 Meanwhile, in Foxwood, we were provided with bulbs and dibbers if you were lucky or a fork/spade if you were less lucky. Mitch was probably the least lucky, being given a smaller-than-average fork with a rotten handle that broke halfway through the task.

🌼 The group swiftly divided and set to work, digging holes and planting bulbs. There was some discussion about how best to split to cover the area required and distribute the bulbs fairly. This seemed to be resolved as all the bulbs were planted pretty speedily, good work team.

🕸️ There was a lot of love for the dibbers, which made the process very simple and efficient. Maybe we should all get a dibber?! We then enjoyed a team photo in and around the suitably-spooky-spider web climbing frame (until Mitch got stuck fairly near the top of it!)

🎃 Our team was so efficient that there was plenty of time for everyone to participate in some Halloween-based fitness. The party pace crew did one circuit of monster/zombie etc based exercises before heading off while the rest of us did a second set. It was soon time to head back to base, meet up with the other group and head home/to the pub.

👏 Thank you everyone, see you again soon!

We are old hands at this task now, so we speedily unloaded the books ready for the Tang Hall Library book sale before spending the same amount of time again trying to find a witty and amusing story to tell with the titles.

The idiot buried Cheryl; gone, colossal cracks. To be continued...

We'll keep working on it - a glittering literary career awaits!