The problem with the January challenge is that we do so many good deeds that our taskowners run out of things for us to do, as was the case late last night with the council's eco team and the scheduled task at Clarence Gardens. We'd already done all the work earlier in the month. Fortunately, with a flurry of WhatsApp messages and our wonderful run leader Laura we were able to come up with a couple of tasks to fill the void and keep everyone just about busy enough.

Tonight we gave a big GG Yorkie welcome (and one dissenting boo) to Jenni who was joining is from GoodGym Reading. Great to have you here, despite Pete's rivalry! We also welcomed back Carys and Rohail who had enjoyed themselves so much last week tjat they decided to return. There were a fair few tired legs tonight after some fantastic running at the Brass Monkey half, so a lot of people were grateful for the steadier run out to the allotment task with Vicky, whilst Ed led the larger group to the community gardens with Pete and Lucy bringing up the rear.

Dan very quickly realised we would be working on the gardens at the end of his road and was almost tempted to get his "goodgym-curious" partner out to join us. Another night perhaps. At the task Laura had prepared a list of jobs that needed doing and the GG York crew got to work weeding, pruning, digging and sweeping. As we worked away we managed to spend a bit of time getting to know our newer members a bit better. Turns out Rohail is yet to try a jacket potato (cheese and beans seemed to be the best choice for an entry-level jacket) and Carys just casually dropped that she done some pretty epic running events in the past, including the Berlin Marathon!

Meanwhile, over with Vicky...

A splinter group of ladies headed to Holgate Allotments and were tasked with covering all the community allotment paths with woodchip. We quickly got stuck in and soon had a conveyor of wheelbarrows going back and forth. Alongside this was team weed, who cleared some of the paths before the bark arrived.

We had almost finished when the other group arrived, but being the perfectionists that we are, we had one final push to make sure we got the job done! We were very proud of our work and the paths look ace, if we do say so ourselves!

Once both tasks were completed we regrouped for an epic game of musical cones, with a little bit of cheating and some heated debate over the rules, before we headed back to the pub where some joined in with the cool down but most got themselves a reasonably well earned pint

Lovely stuff

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of York, there was an overgrown allotment. Following the death of the old allotment keeper, the brambles grew tall, with thick thorny stems curling around the fortifications (piles of wood) which protected the treble-locked castle (shed).

On the third day of January, ten red-coated Goodgym heroes traveled from quite nearby to tackle the chaos left behind by the old allotment keeper. Their mission was to release the shed from its thorny prison and reveal the magical contents within. Ultimately, the shed would be cleared and the allotment patch refreshed so that the council of allotment wizards could prevent the weeds taking over the whole kingdom, and the earth could once again bear fruit (and vegetables).

The red knights arrived armed with loppers, secateurs, rakes and saws. They quickly got to battle with the brambles. They joined the allotment keeper's son, who had already used his magical keys to unlock the shed. As they cleared the brambles, fair maiden Becca pushed the cuttings into a sack to be transported away. Once the brambles were cleared, Prince Paul Kelly set to work on dismantling the fortifications for Lady Lyndsey and Benevolent Ben to burn in a roaring fire.

Meanwhile, Lady Ellie and Magical Mitch couldn't resist the lure of the open shed door which contained hundreds of years of magical gardening implements (and more piles of wood). They dutifully removed the scrap wood from amongst the cobwebs to fuel the now furious fire. Lyndsey and Ben got busy casting spells over the flames to ensure they didn't burn down the beanstalk frames which they were dancing perilously close to.

To finish their misson, it was all hands on deck to lift a heavy metal fence from the soil and carry it to the allotment entrance for disappearance.

With their efforts the ten hardy GG Yorkies cleared the way for future Knights of the order of Yorkies to continue clearing the cluttered- cobwebbed shed on the morning of the 31st day of January.

Tonight we had another bumper turnout to help at Holgate Allotments.

We started by welcoming new comers Denis and Janeto their first group session. We then celebrated Debs 300th good deed by adorning her with the fabulous cape of good deeds. Great work Debs

Debs, Pete and Nikki then set off in a walking group whilst the rest of us warmed up. We then headed off with Ed at the front and Vicky back marking.

When we arrived we were faced with a huge pile of woodchip to be spread on the paths. Containers and wheelbarrows were scarce so a few folk went off to find other vessels, returning with buckets, crates, bags and even traffic cones! With enough to keep everyone busy and some very enthusiastic running we quickly reduced the pile, and Helen from the allotments was delighted!

We then ended with a fun game of grab the tea towel then a run home via some hill reps.

And thank you to Jenna and Nick for the delicious home make treats back at base!

Great buzz tonight! Well done everyone!

💨 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…

Claire, Cara and I headed back to Holgate Community Orchard and Apiary to continue with clearing the Apiary area. Today the priority was breaking up a pile of dried offcut branches before the bindweed took over. We added about 8 barrows of them to the compost. Our visit coincided with a plant swap and cake allotment event so we were brought some delicious millionaires shortbread while we worked and offered some plants at the end.

Three sprightly GG Yorkies met at Holgate allotments to continue to clear brambles, readying the patch for creating a bee habitat next to the community orchard.

While Tay and Leanne cleared a pile of old brambles onto the compost heap, James got digging to create his own pile of roots.

Soon all three were on digging duty, unearthing breeze blocks, glass and polystyrene from the foundation of an old greenhouse.

We finished up the hour by finding and heaving up a few bits of old carpet and weed guard from beneath the soil.

The next chance to join in this lovely Sunday morning task is on 21st, so keep an eye out for the listing.

*not technically peat, but we've never been ones to let facts get in the way of a good pun.