Brixton Windmill

A little bit of history in central Brixton!

The Friends of Windmill Gardens (FoWG) were formed in 2003 with three aims:

  • to get the Grade II listed Brixton Windmill restored and opened for public visits – in 2002 it had been put on English Heritage's buildings at risk register;
  • to make Windmill Gardens park a more welcoming space for local people;
  • to have a new education centre at the windmill.

Windmill Gardens gained a Green Flag Community Award in 2015 and we have just been judged again so our fingers are crossed that we will retain the award for the next two years.

269 GoodGymers have supported Brixton Windmill with 149 tasks.


Top supporters

Previous sessions
LambethCommunity mission
Romi Pra

Packing away the event

Sunday 27th September

Written by Romi Pra

Good job ✔️ done Helping to pack away gazebos tables etc for all the stall holders, clear up litter to leave the place looking 👌 after a wonderful day.

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LambethCommunity mission
Romi Pra

Setting up to make it happen

Sunday 27th September

Written by Romi Pra

Helping setting up gazebos & stalls for everyone supporting the community event was lovely. Everyone worked hard together ❤️ to make it a beautiful day for many people 🙏💕😊 There was so much for everyone to enjoy, arts, music, great food, history, great Italian chef feeding the team too! 😀

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LambethGroup run
+4
Tilly Baker Hine
Katie Allan
Michael Welsh
Ben Margerison
Yianny

Carpet Diem: Lambeth Runners Get Their Grout On 🧰🏃🏼

Tuesday 28th July

Written by Yianny (he / him)

Tuesday night saw a cracking turnout as the GoodGym Lambeth crew rolled up (quite literally, in the case of several carpets) at Annick’s beloved waterworks allotments for an evening of heavy lifting, heavier furniture-breaking, and general green-fingered good deeds 🌱💪🏼

The task at hand: rug rolling, shelf smashing, and some good old-fashioned digging about — basically an extreme home makeover, allotment edition. Annick’s plot has never looked (or felt) so un-furnished 🛋️➡️🗑️

On the team sheet tonight:

• Ben Margerison — hauling carpets like they owed him money
• Michael Welsh — bringing the muscle and the smiles
• Katie Allan — no stranger to a task, this Lambeth legend just keeps racking them up 🏅
• Tilly Baker Hine — gardening gloves on, ready for anything
• Jo Bowen — allotment royalty for the evening
• Dan — 50 tasks deep and still showing up to demolish some furniture 🔨
• Fi — sleeves rolled up, spirits high
• Rich — new face, instant legend
• Libby Cannon — welcome to the chaos, Libby! 🎉

Between us we shifted more old stuff than a Sunday car boot sale, and left Annick’s allotment looking positively spring-cleaned 🧹✨

And because it was the last Tuesday of the month, work quickly turned to well-earned play — the gang swapped trowels for pints and toasted a job well done at the social afterwards 🍾😊 Nothing quite like bonding over a shared dislike of a particularly stubborn Billy bookcase.

Great work all round, Lambeth — you moved mountains (of carpet) tonight! 🥰

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LambethGroup run
+5
Tilly Baker Hine
Katie Allan
Ben Margerison
Yianny
marie noelle Vieu

Windmill Gardens: Fence Off, Weeds Out, Whips Set Free! 🌬️🌱

Tuesday 30th June

Written by Yianny (he / him)

Big squad energy at GoodGym Lambeth this evening 💪🏼 — bumper turnout, loads of new faces, and our regular crew bringing the vibes as always: Katie, Ben, Jo, Marie-Noelle, Dan and AA Yianny holding it down. 🍾

And the warm welcomes don’t stop there! A massive GG hello to newbies Romi, Ark and Zain 🥳 — you survived your first session, you’re basically family now! And a special shoutout to Libby, who came back for another GG fix 😊 — once is a taste, twice is a habit, you’re one of us now!

Tonight’s mission: Windmill Gardens, helping the brilliant Jean and Annick tackle a jungle situation. The plastic fencing was holding back a weed invasion that had basically adopted the new whips as roommates 🏠🌿, so out came the fence, out came the weeds, and back up went the fence — teamwork makes the fence work! 🔧 There was litter picking, Ark got hands-on with watering duty 💦, and a serious amount of compost-worthy greenery got sent off to start its next life. ♻️

Bonus plot twist: Jean let slip there’s a spot of Shakespeare in the park next Friday 🎭 — not an official GG outing, but “to GG or not to GG” might just be the wrong question when there’s culture on offer. 😱🤩

Brilliant effort all round, Windmill Gardens — see you next time! 🏃‍♀️❤️

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LambethGroup run
+2
Dan
Tilly Baker Hine
Katie Allan
Michael Welsh
Ben Margerison
Yianny

🌹 🌩️ Weed It and Reap: GoodGym Lambeth Brave the Storm for Brixton’s Blooms 🌹

Tuesday 2nd June

Written by Yianny (he / him)

Thunder? Lightning? Merely a warm-up act for GoodGym Lambeth, who absolutely refused to let a bit of dramatic weather stand between them and a good deed. A magnificent seven assembled at Papa’s, ready to get their hands dirty — and we mean that quite literally.

A huge welcome to Rich, joining us for the very first time! 🍾 He turned up on a stormy Tuesday evening to do unpaid weeding with strangers, which either speaks to his tremendous community spirit or his very adventurous social calendar. Either way, we’re delighted to have him! 💪🏼

A special shoutout to Fi and Katie, who stepped up as makeshift superheroes when AA Yianny was running a little behind schedule 🦸‍♀️🦸‍♀️ — safely shepherding the group from Papa’s like the absolute legends they are. No cape required (though it might’ve helped with the rain).

The full heroic lineup: Fi, Dan, Michael, Ben, Tilly, Katie and the newly initiated Rich. What a crew. 🌟

Tonight we returned to help our beloved Roses of Brixton — the wonderful Annick and Jean — giving their gardens a thorough seeing-to. We’re talking weeding, sweeping, clearing, and cleaning… and then things got avant-garde. 🎨

Yes, we laid carpet. As a weed suppressant. 😱🤩

Look, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense — the weeds get a cosy living room, which you might say is to die for. Truly the most passive-aggressive gardening technique known to humanity, and we are HERE for it. The gardens are looking lush, Annick and Jean were thrilled, and the weeds are already regretting their life choices.

Another brilliant evening of running, doing good, and laying soft furnishings in unexpected locations. See you next time! 🌿❤️

GoodGym Lambeth — getting fit, giving back, occasionally redecorating.

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LambethCommunity mission
Joe Farrar
Emily
Katie Allan

The Daily Grind

Monday 4th May

Written by Katie Allan

Our friends at Brixton Windmill needed a hand setting up for their May Fest event. Quick to answer the call to arms was Lambeth local Katie, our friend from the North (London) Emily, and long-time-volunteer-first-time-GGer Joe. Welcome, Joe!

We joined the massive volunteer team from the windmill to set out chairs, tables and gazebos, and remove litter from the site.

We were rewarded with a pot of coffee and some interesting facts about windmills. Did you know that lots of common phrases including 'the daily grind' and 'run of the mill' both stem from windmill history?!

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