We witnessed a beautiful late summer sunset yesterday, and I had the joy of enjoying it alongside 15 wonderful folk :)

Ingestre Road Estate was where our group in red descended. Nestled a few minutes from Tufnell Park, this community housing is set amidst mature trees, lively flower beds, and a great-huge-magnificient (and hidden) woodland. We've helped out here a few times this year, and it was special to come back as we look towards Autumn.

Several of us (Alex T, Chalomi, Ivo, Jack, Jackie, Jenny, John, Marta, Sarah H, Steve, and I) started our evening with meandering run up and through the evening hubbub of Kentish Town - whilst several others (Darren, Emily, Jacob, and Sarah A) had made their own ways on foot and pedals.

Met by the wonderful Pete (who used to head up GoodGym Camden), we swiftly split into teams, each tackling a much-needed task.

We had Team Cut-the-Crap-Out-Of-The-Over-Grown-Area (consisting of Ivo, Jenny, Sarah A, and Sarah H), who absolutely transformed a patch of overgrown weeds and brambles across 30 strenuous minutes!

We had Team Tap>Water>Walk>Trees>Water>Repeat (consisting of Alex T, Darren, Emily, and Steve), who gave a newly planted woodland orchard of apple trees the water they deserve :)

We had Team Turn-Bog-Into-Pond (consisting of Jacob, John, and Marta), who shifted bucket after bucket of fresh sand to a natural water-draining pond, gifting it robustness ahead of the wetter months to come!

We had Team Bramble-2-Wheelbarrow-Ramble (consisting of Chalomi and Jack), who cut back oodles of overhanging bramble and who then traversed ramps, gates, and keen photographers as they carefully transported their towering barrow of cut thorns!

And we had our very own litter-picking maestro, Jackie, who bagged a huge pile of litter from both the estate and woodland :)

To top off our evening, a few of us headed to The Vine for a social natter, where we were also met by the wonderful GoodGym Greenwich AA, Rachel :)

Thank you to Pete for organising such a brilliant suit of tasks - and thank you, all, for your energy, work, and time - I appreciate it!

See you soon!

It was Election Eve and all was well.

Camden was aflutter with the sounds of sharpening pencils, ballot-snipping scissors, and huge printers used just once every half-decade to print the 'POLLING STATION' font.

And amidst these sounds of democracy, a group in red was making its gentle way up through Camden and towards Tufnell Park.

Our wonderful regular group of Jackie, John, and Steve had welcomed the equally wonderful Emilie, and we were sharing stories of work, life, and politics as we cut our way through the evening hubbub.

Arriving at the special communal garden areas at Ingestre Community Centre, we were met by the brilliant Emily, Pete, and Sarah, and (under Pete's expert tutelage) we quickly split into Team Cutting-All-Weeds-Completely-Back, Team Water-Dry-Ground-Until-It-FINALLY-Accepts-The-Water, and Team Litter-Pick-Pick.

It was wonderful seeing how much work we can do in 40 minutes when we do it together, and our tasks simply slipped away to being completed.

Thank you, everyone, for a lovely evening, and I really appreciate your work!!

See you soon!

Camden is a special place under a summer evening sky.

Jackie, John, and I met in St Pancras, where we started our evening limbering our limbs and catching up on the week past.

We worked our way northwards past Camden Market and through Kentish Town, sharing election chatter, dodging passersby, and pausing to pass a peaceful protest just south of Tufnell Park.

Arriving at the special Ingestre Community Centre, our old friend (and former Camden AA!), Pete, welcomed us with fresh blooms donated from the Chelsea Flower Show. Our new friend, Faye, arrived soon after, and we collectively got to revitalising several weed-heavy flower beds bordering the estate's roads.

I cannot tell you the names of the donated blooms. But I can tell you they looked floral. And bright. Some were colourful, others were leafy.

Across 50 minutes, we pruned, dug, planted, and watered, and these beds looked very special under a fading summer evening sky.

You check out our Instagram post from the evening here!!

Nice one, and here's to next time!!

If you went down to Ingestre Woods on Friday... you'd have had a big surprise!

The woodland nestled behind Ingestre Road Estate is usually sedate, silent even, but on Friday it had movement. Twenty two lots of movement.

Weaving between trees and traversing muddy banks were several folk bagging oodles of litter. They were so swift that from a distance you could only see the glimmers of their litter pickers. Across 80 minutes, this team absolutely transformed the look and feel of this special space.

Based down in the depths of the woods were a group looking to go even deeper. They were our diggers for the day, and they were helping both us and the local frogspawn. The pond they were deepening has become a favourite habitat for tadpoles, yet our hotter summers have been drying out their home. Thanks to this group's efforts, the Ingestre frogs will be a happier bunch this coming summer.

Across the way on the other side of the estate, there used to be a hill. Until Friday that is, from when it started taking shape as a meadow. These were our weeders, rakers, and shakers. They pulled out the deeply bedded weeds, raked the topsoil, and sprinkled a wild mix of wildflower seeds. The ascendant rain sealed the deal, and the blooms to come will push all memories of bare hills from residents' minds.

Hidden within one of the estate's walkways, our final group were bringing expectant life back to a forgotten collection of flower beds. They pulled the winter weeds before carefully planting the summer bulbs, gifting the walkway the promise of seasonal colour.

Helen (who heads up Ingestre Estate's tenants' association) and I are so grateful for your help and work. The sheer amount you achieved far exceeded what we expected. The woodland is expected to re-open to the public over the coming year, and your work has made a material dent in the work that's needed to make that possible. You've also made an immediate difference on the look and feel of the estate's green spaces, and I know this will be hugely appreciated by residents. Thank you.

I fell asleep expecting a morning of pond digging. I think I even dreamt about it. Spades and mud, and digging deeper and deeper - first one pond, then two, then multiple puddles and pools - and people shouting "dig faster, Alex, dig faster we said, Alex, the ponds need digging, Alex!!!......"

...and then I woke and saw... the rain...

... which meant a damp journey to the lovely Ingestre Road Community Centre (a stone's throw from Tufnell Park station), where I was met by the wonderful grouping of Charlie, Emily, John, former Camden AA Pete, and Ingestre TRA supremo, Helen.

If you haven't been to Ingestre Woods, it's a tucked away spot of green sanctuary, housing mature trees, winding pathways, and a whole host of natural wildlife - it was a joy to be there today.

Having donned gloves and zipped up our waterproofs, we looked at the pond and agreed that it was simply too much of a pond today to be dug, and we swiftly turned our attentions to a large and expansive shrub covering one of the slopes. Thick branches mixed with green foliage and small berries in a mass of dominating nature, and we later learned (thanks to Charlie's quick eyes) that it was a cotoneaster, native to the mountains of Tibet... and the slopes of Kentish Town!

Across two hours, we collectively snipped, sawed, cut, and pruned, removing a quite massive amount of nature whilst sharing conversation and stories - it was wonderful.

Helen, Pete, and the Ingestre TRA will be using the cut away shrubbery to create a dry wood hedge, and the newly aired space will mean the surrounding fence can be repaired, the ground cleaned, and new ideas for plants considered.

Thank you, everyone - I had such a lovely time - and your work is hugely appreciated!

(Thanks Camden Linda for the pun...)

At the end of last year last year we planted some trees in Ingestre woods. The local TRA and the nursery recently asked us to help further by making some plaques for the existing larger trees, to label the species.

John and Caitlin, despite neither being carpentry experts, managed to create some roughly rectangular bits of wood for this purpose, from large, thin pieces of wood which were quite resistant to keeping still while being sawed.

Meanwhile, Kate and Katie set to work repairing a compost bin, the sides of which were rotting. They chose some suitable pieces of wood from a pile of discarded planks, which seemed roughly the right size, measured them carefully and sawed them down to precisely the correct width.

Using an electronic drill, the rotten planks were removed from the composter, and when they were replaced with the newly -cut wood, the compost bin resembled one put together by an expert carpenter.

That's GoodGym - you discover skills you never knew you had!