As I have frequently opined of late, this is one of the greatest summers I can remember. I've done a bunch of really cool stuff, but it's the consistently hot, dry weather that has been the catalyst for so many of those things.

Sunday morning, heading into town for another GoodGym mission at Sydney Gardens it was already hot at 10am; in fact, I almost borderline agreed with the voice in my head that said 'sweltering'.

Sydney Gardens, let me educate you, the gardens are the only remaining eighteenth-century pleasure (or "Vauxhall") gardens in the country. The Friends of Sydney Gardens meet twice a month to work on the grounds and we attend to help them.

This week, we welcomed a newcomer - Bennath, who joined Meyrick at the meeting point on the railway bridge.

This week's job was the same as last time, wheelbarrowing more sand form the storage area to the children's play area. A significant task indeed, as per the unwritten GoodGym rule, 'The further the distance, the heavier the load'. Fortunately, there were a couple of sand bags that had been delivered right next to the play area, which allowed us to make a much greater contribution in the hour we had, than is usually the case.

The kids love this play area, so whatever we can do to keep it awesome, so much the better.

I have to admit, this Summer still has plenty to give. It's already been a wonderful summer, at least if you don't have to worry about crop yields and test wickets. Even at 10 am this morning it was sweltering, this mainly due I think to the total lack of wind.

Undeterred, three GoodGymmers arrived fully committed to the cause. Aaron, Cosmo and Meyrick gathered together and met our contact with the regular Friends of Sydney Gardens crowd and this time we were back on sand duty.

You see, there is a quite fantastic play area for the kids, but the sand keeps disappearing, probably being redistributed by playful hands and carried away on uncaring shoes. Inevitably, this sand needs replenishing, and that is where we came in.

This is one of those situations where the heavier the substance that needs moving is further away it is stored. So in the tiny hour we had, much of that time is spent moving the sand, in wheelbarrows, most of the way across the park. I suggested to our leader there, that if the sand could be delivered to a location closer to the play area, we could probably do the whole thing in an hour, as it was we probably managed 15%. It was a sic work out though, we were all wiped out by the end.

We were back at Sydney Gardens again this week, after a mere seven days had elapsed since our last visit. We are very popular and in demand though, and they also have the Mayor visiting next Sunday.

Today was all about the impending arrival of said dignitaries and how we could help contribute to a safe and pleasant day for all involved. Dedicated GoodGymmers Cosmo, Tanya and Meyrick were in attendance and we were set to work by our supervisor (Gill from the Friends of Sydney Gardens) to finish tidying up the area around the Supper Room, where we had previously worked.

Mostly brambles and nettles, there was enough to keep us occupied for the hour of our stay.

Just as the media like to announce 'The Warmest Day of the Year So Far' as we move from Winter to Spring, so we at GoodGym should announce that today's mission was the Warmest of 2025 (thus far).

Three GoodGymmers braved this awesome weather to help the Friends of Sydney Gardens. Tanya, Kam and Meyrick met on the bridge overlooking the railway line as usual.

We were tasked, by Gill our colleague at FOSG, with something we'd already made a pretty good start on. Avid readers of my run reports will no doubt recall the work we've previously carried out digging out the entrances to a couple of grottoes. These date back to pre-Victorian times and the idea is to clear the approach to them in order to make them into a feature.

I joked at the previous mission that we'd dug down to about 1970 and although we made some more headway this morning, we've still a couple of hundred years of accumulated topsoil to clear. It's a tough dig as well, the soil is riddled with roots, some a thick as a dog's leg, as well as chunks of limestone.

We keep chipping away, at this rate it might take a couple of years but it's exciting to imagine what we might find when we get to the bottom. This is more than just a GoodGym mission, this is GoodGym with added Indiana Jones.

We've had some wonderful weather recently, but as is oft the case with the English climate, it doesn't stay for long. Having said that, it wasn't in any way uncomfortable as 8 GoodGymmers (Cosmo, Ruth, Aaron, Jason, Emily, Kate, Ava and Meyrick arrived for one of two visits to Sydney Gardens this month.

Dry it was, and cloudy, perhaps a little chilly in the wind, but a far cry from winter which I hope we've now left well behind. The Friends of Sydney Gardens have a 'formal event' of some kind on the 11th of May, (apparently the mayor is attending). There are certain areas that need a tidy up before this as they will be viewed by the visiting dignitaries, and GoodGym Bath were more than happy to help.

There is a gated enclosure next to the Holburn Museum, which acts as a store for grounds maintenance. In the middle of this area is a derelict building, a relic from the 1700s. Our supervisor educated us that back in those days, this derelict building was in fact a 'Supper Room' and was linked to the main building (the Holburn Museum) by a series of other buildings, a bit like the West Wing.

This was overgrown with weeds, brambles, nettles and saplings all vying for dominance; the result of years of neglect had let them run amok. Our job was to trim this unsightly flora back and reveal what is left of the Supper Room to be seen in all it's glory - this will, though, take some imagination.

We pretty much cleared it all in the short time we had. Great work GoodGymmers, we'll be back in two weeks.

The weather was epic this Sunday. A fresh southwesterly breeze and rain-threatening clouds welcomed eight GoodGymmers as we returned to Sydney Gardens for our regular monthly visit.

Joining us today, and both very welcome, were newcomers Kate, and Ava. The usual suspects rocking up were Cosmo, Ruth, Aaron, Emily, Vicky and Meyrick.

We can never quite be sure about the task awaiting us, but Sydney Gardens always offers up a physical challenge. This time, there was a return to a task we had started last Summer. Up at the top of the park, adjacent with the tennis courts, lie two fenced off 'mounds' with gated entrances half submerged in the earth. As far as I have been able to understand, these domed structures contain a grotto/reservoir where water collects, fed from one of the many rivulets that descend from the high hills beyond. This work was completed in pre-Victorian times, for reasons unknown and vegetation and creeping earth have done their best to swallow them up.

The Friends of Sydney Gardens would like the entrances to these dug up in order that they can be turned into features of some kind in the future. A lot of work needs to happen before that goal can be realised, so for the moment just moving topsoil out to other areas will have to suffice.

In fact I was there in December, the sole attendee on that occasion, digging down to the entrance to one grotto and creating a pile of earth. Today we moved that pile of earth into a hole that needed filling.

Whilst half of us did this, (and too many hands etc), newcomers Kate and Ava joined Vicky in weeding around the perimeter of the tennis courts (people were playing despite the weather) to make it look presentable when Spring arrives.