A humid Wednesday evening bought us to woolwich for a gentle run to our old haunt, Glyndon. Tonight we were tasked with cleaning up the driveway and weeding the gravel in the garden which was done with our usual efficiency if I do say so myself. Heartened by the difference we made in a short space of time, we headed back to enjoy the rest of our evenings. Good work team!

Next week is gardening at Christchurch!

Until next time.

Everyone loves a new venue for a Goodgym adventure, and tonight's did not disappoint. Wednesday 17th July gave us a balmy summer evening for 7 GoodGym-ers to met outside Charlton House to share childhood memories and a few warm up games before a short run to Charlton Manor Primary School.

We were shown to the beautiful Secret Garden at the school, which has recently lost its gardener so needs a few extra hands on deck to get the weeds under control and the growing areas ready for the children to start planting flowers and crops. Much digging and cutting down of unwanted vegetation ensued, being careful to avoid the good stuff like potatoes, leeks & wildflowers. We were joined by the chickens from the school's coop who had a great time pecking around for worms, along with several villages of snails. Before long we'd run out of space in the huge bin we were using for what we cleared and it was time to jog back to Charlton House for some cool down stretches.

There's still lots of work to be done, so we'll be back to this lovely hidden garden with its beehives, chatty chickens, fruit trees and so much else.

Next week we're at Glyndon Community Centre. Thanks all & see you soon!

Football? What football?! On Wednesday evening the sun finally shone again as four GoodGymers met at Charlton House. After a nice lap of the park, we headed off to Hervey Road sports ground to help Richie with some tasks in the community garden. We were delighted to see the wildflower seeds recently planted were begin to grow, so one group was given the task of weeding the grass from this area. Richie told us the plan to germinate Yellow Rattle here (he’d traveled all the way to Scotland for the seeds!) which will help the wildflower meadow thrive. The second group was given the task of turning the compost, creating ‘lasagna layers’ of compost and dried grass. After a final fight with some determined brambles, we headed off (after solving the issue of having been locked in the grounds for the night!).

Well done team!

My mom always used to carry anthisan with her on walks, God bless her. And in fact the anthisan I dug out of our bathroom cupboard looks about 15 years old...not sure how effective it is but the little likely placebo effect is worth the effort to squeeze the remnants out of the tube. I'm plastering the stuff on after the session at the woodlands. I think I have very tasty blood and was the repellent for Arthur that morning. We arrived and scouted out the fallen tree by which we busied ourselves de-brambling and eating raisins before Julian and Marta joined us fresh from another task at the station. An hour or so later the patch was looking much clearer and we all had a few thorns in our hands, evident from cries of "OOOUCH" from some of the other disembodied voices from around the woods. Always lovely to be back in this space and worth the itchiness for some time of peace and quiet here.

Nice one team.