we put away the chairs & tables & swept the floor

It was a weekend where the weather forecast would not have left Noah and his Ark out of place. With biblical levels of wind and rain predicted for Friday and Sunday, and only a brief window of dry weather for Saturday, a gang of brave and intrepid Good Gymers, plus special guests and two furry friends ventured west to the English alps, aka Wasdale, Cumbria.

In true British style, Friday's barbecue was attended in drizzle but spirits were not dampened. With more cake than even the Good Gymers could eat, everyone ate their fill and retired to bed, happily sated.

Saturday dawned to pouring rain and despite Egg’s best efforts to command an early bird fell trot, the team remained in bed. Finally rising to join carriages, two by two of course; Noah wouldn't have it any other way, the team headed to Muncaster Castle park run. A stunning circuit three times around the castle with the mountains as backdrop made it easy to ignore the slightly undulating course.

A swift brekkie at the Ravenglass steam railway cafe, then with one team returning to camp for a hike and another venturing out on a big hill run to help Nikki in her training for her ultra in a month's time.

As if by magic, the clouds parted and, even though the wind was strong, a fine day was had by all. The hike turned out to be a little more exciting than expected and Matt’s attempts at turning the hill run into a pub crawl was thwarted by… well, a lack of pubs. However, the Wasdale Head Inn did provide a welcome pint and a nice bowl of chips.

The previous evening's heavy rain had left some sporting rivers where rivers should not have been. Washing the hill run mud from our legs and sweat from our eyes in the fresh mountain water was super refreshing!

An early dinner at the Strands Inn & Brewery in Nether Wasdale was enjoyed by all. Pie, both veggie and non-veggie, appeared to be the highlights. Plus a delightful cheese and ale dipping starter - novel and truly delicious!

And as the rain once again set in it was simple to decide. “Oh, go on then… Just one more pint until the rain stops! “

Sunday's heavy rain and high winds meant a retreat back to York for many. Difficult muddy vehicle exits for the camper vans made for some sliding fun leaving the camping field.

Of course, a Good Gym weekend wouldn't be complete without at least one good deed. A quick scour of the site for any litter ensued, followed by breakfast at the Sawmill cafe. This breakfast might well be worth Michelin stars, if nothing else but for its setting inside an old, still functioning, watermill… this weekend with a lot of water!

A brief attempt at a clifftop run at St Bees turned out to be too much. But that gave a good excuse to head inland to the fleecy outdoor kit dens of Keswick and a run along the old railway lines.

All in all, a fantastic weekend that not even the weather could ruin. Good outdoors fun, great food and wonderful company. Roll on January and our next Lakeland trip to Helvellyn…

You wanted the best & you got the best the hottest band in the world, errr not Kiss but the Temu version = Stef & Mikael 🤘🎸🎶

Tonight we had a bumper turnout to help at the Kings wildflower meadow path.

A select group set off at party pace followed by the main group after naming and numbering off. We were also joined by a few cyclists and some folk joined us at the task.

We had a few unexpected late sign ups so we needed to split into two groups with one taking on the litter pick challenge and the other tackling dock leaves.

The litter pickers had a list of treasure to find in pairs with the tie breaker being a selfie. Mitch and Lyndsay were the only team to collect everything even though they had to climb over the fence to the beck!

Group dock leaves were introduced to a new tool - the lazy fox - which was used to slice dock leaves at their base.

Time quickly passed and we were back off to base via a few hill reps on little Hob Moor.

All our good work was rewarded with Rich's brownies, which were still warm!

Penny down Penny!! how the devil will Mikael & i do the thing we've done for years? with customary aplomb & panache it turned out, all furniture away & stacked, floor swept & away

Tonight we were celebrating Amy Woolard being crowned GoodGymer of the month and John Bourton reaching an outstanding 500 good deeds! Well done both of you.

Warming up, we numbered off giving our favourite thing about Canada in honour of it being Canada national day (full disclosure, I may have got the date wrong for this). Still, always good to big up Avril Lavigne. Then we split into two groups, some heading to Millennium Fields for raking up where the meadow had been given a trim, and some to Planet Southbank.

Vicky reports from Planet Southbank that the crack team was helping with some tasks in their community garden. One group cleared the fence so the railing could be painted, another helped to sort out the big pile of twigs and leaves and a third edged and dug over some beds. They also did a bit of litter picking. At the end they were rewarded with cake made by one of the neighbours and offered various bits of produce. They were very happy with our help and the little plot looked much neater afterwards.

Meanwhile at Millennium Fields we got stuck into the raking and dragging the cut grass over to the allotment compost bins where for reasons that escape me it was mixed with mud. For entirely predictable reasons Mitch jumped up on down on the top. Also, Abigail was spotted having a little nap on the soft pile. Many blackberries were also foraged. Mostly by me if I'm honest.

Both teams met up at Scarcroft Green for an olympic triathlon themed relay race (lacking a pool and bikes we made do with running, hopping, and skipping). Then it was back to the Priory Centre to warm down and off to the pub for beer and John's cake or legging it home to catch Kelly Hodgekinson bringing home the gold.