GoodGym Richmond’s Monday 11th November Group Run was a ‘second Monday’ task at our sponsored plots in Buccleuch Gardens.

Despite the cold and the dark evening we got a huge amount done: repatriating fencing; sweeping cleaning and cobweb dusting in the Arcade; strengthening the ‘twiggy barricades’; weeding and leaf removal on and around the Arcade lawns.

However the evening was really about celebrating Ken’s 100th ‘official’ GG Good Deed, although we know he has really done many more.

And we also salute his incredible input as a task provider to GG Richmond, inviting us to help with improving Petersham Common and teaching us about bats, hedge and fence building , horse troughs, planting, drainage, ecology, woodland management, haloing and so much more.

So we salute Ken Mackenzie. Environmental hero . Richmond’s Green king.

Starting at Tap Tavern, Jp celebrated his 600th task, an additional 100 tasks from his milestone 500 in just 11 months!

Beyond the bright lights of Richmond, an intrepid group of GoodGymmers headed off into the dark lands of Petersham to the hidden lair of Petersham and Ham Sea Scouts.

One pair set about emptying a broken trug of soil, one pair helped to level ground to put slabs down for the wheelie bins, and the remaining people got stuck in to a task to filter the ash from the huge bonfire and remove any metal nails that were in the palettes that were burned! A good team task that had everyone doing their bit to get the job done and keep fit while we did it!

The evening ended as the temperature dropped quickly and the group ran back towards the high street and home!

Seven Richmond GGers gathered at on Riverside Drive on a warm Saturday morning for our monthly mission to maintain the natural habitat of the Ham Lands for the benefit of flora, fauna and the folks who love to spend time there.

As usual Sharon was there with a group of the Friends of Ham Lands, and gave our briefing. This time, our task was to clear the area around an apple tree of brambles, and cut down a patch of sycamore suckers growing nearby.

Now GG Richmond members are not strangers to brambles and we know their ways. But this session’s enemy was up for the fight - fielding some of the longest, thickest and spikiest specimens of their number in their bid to hold their territory.

No match for us or the new tools supplied by Sharon though. We set to work, cutting swathes through the enemy and piling them up ready to be bagged and dragged to a nearby compost area.

Of course we bore the scars of the campaign, with plenty of yelps signalling another casualty in the form of a scratch to a leg or an arm left uncovered in the warm weather. But the battle scars only made us more proud of the victory. Our efforts also paid off with the discovery of a plant not seen in several years!

The sycamores put up less resistance, and will go on to serve the community by adorning a fence recently built from larger, thicker branches.

Our next session on the Ham Lands is here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-the-happy-ham-landers-bd191a17-5b00-42da-ae77-5a8eed086ac4