On a very sunny Sunday afternoon in September, when it felt like summer was making a comeback, seven GoodGymers assembled in Pear Tree Park to join a riverside path-clearing session organised by Ben from Clean Up River Brent. The event was part of Ealing Climate Week and coincided with the ActForEaling social. ActForEaling is a coalition of nature & climate groups, and GoodGym Ealing are their partners.

While some of the other organisations opted to have a stall to promote their cause, GoodGym was all about hands-on action, so we headed straight towards the River Brent for the task. With shears, loppers and litter pickers in hand, the team disappeared into the thicket, opening up the overgrown entrances and cutting back vegetation to allow safe, comfortable access for visitors. Perhaps even more fittingly for Ealing Climate Week, we also collected litter that was plaguing the sides of the path. The further west we travelled, the less obvious the route became, meandering around a dried-up stream ditch or getting swallowed up by the previous flooding.

After more than an hour of clearing and tidying the path, we returned to the ActForEaling event near Pear Tree Bistro to collect free drink vouchers and meet some familiar faces. The occasion brought together several past and present task owners: Mary from ActForEaling & Ealing Repair Cafe, Elisabeth, formerly leading Acton Litter Collective, and Trevor from Ealing Transition.

Trevor had some great news: hedgehogs had been spotted in the Lammas Orchard, so our support with building their habitat had finally paid off! If you are interested in more projects led by Ealing Transition, including energy saving, schools' solar generation, food-growing skills, beekeeping and biodiversity restoration, join Trevor's storytelling talk next Sunday morning in South Ealing.

Kash knew some of what to expect in Miss G's back garden. For Sevan it was the first time after having tidied up in the front before. Talking to Steph after Junior parkrun, Kash reminded him that it was "the garden with the fridge and brambles", which was pretty accurate.

Entering the garden, the brambles weren't as bad as Kash remembered. During the last mission, Kash and Steph had dug out the bramble roots, so today's vines looked younger and easier to chop.

Looming over the garden was a big tree from the neighbour's side which turned out to have grapes on it, making it a third food related mission this weekend for Kash and Sevan. Miss G hadn't tried to eat them, so Kash was the guinea pig and declared them tasty 😋.

Miss G's rubbish sacks were very thin, so the brambles ripped them to shreds. Sevan chopped the longer grape vines and Kash tried to line the black bags with them to protect the bags from the bramble thorns. This allowed them to pack 6 sacks by the end of the mission and the sometimes-double-bagged sacks just about held together.

The last job came when Kash discovered 2 trees growing in the narrow gap between the back fence and the other back fence 😕. Rummaging in the tool bin, Sevan found a long tree pruning saw and he was able cut and snap the trunks fairly low to the ground, with a satisfying crack!.

There was a new task waiting for Kash and Sevan in Mrs K's front garden after last week's mission trimming roses and over other overgrown plants in the back. The path to the front door and pavement in front of the house were being taken over with Mrs K's shrubs, bushes and trees. Mrs K was also worried about damaging her car on them when she opened the door.

Tools were sourced from Mrs K's garage and most importantly, Mrs K's dog, T, again came to say hello to the GoodGymers 🐕. Once T was happy, she went back inside and Kash and Sevan could get started cutting things back. Like their mission earlier in the day, this one had it's own scent too, of rosemary not cat poo this time, which was much more pleasant.

Mrs K had specifically told the pair not to cut back her lavender too much, so Kash and Sevan tried to find the line between freeing up more of the path and leaving enough of the plants that they'd still look pleasing to Mrs K, her neighbours and T. With most of them, they cut back pretty harshly knowing that they'd survive and grow back strong. Sevan went easier on the lavender, leaving a bend in the line that took over more of the path.

After a bit of weeding, the front garden was complete and it was onto the back, where Kash and Sevan continued the job of removing brambles that Kash had started the week before. Sevan cut vines near to the ground and Kash chopped them into little pieces then bagged them. With the time they had left, the largest flowerbed was almost freed of brambles, at least on the surface.

With time up, T came to inspect the progress and give the GoodGymers a happy, licky send off. Just as importantly, Mrs K was happy with the progress too and that she wouldn't damage her car on the lavender (or more likely other shrubs). She stopped short of licking Kash and Sevan, expressing her thanks with words instead.