A trip up the hills of Richmond for us last night, to build the foundations for a new horse trough at Petersham Common as part of 'Britain in Bloom'. Starting with a steady climb up over 2km, the running group arrived with task master Ken who had already dug a suitably sized hole and lined it.

How deep is your trough?

The group set to work emptying bags of MOT gravel into the hole which is a physical task given the size and weight of the bags. Meanwhile three people took on the task of reducing the mound behind the trough location to make it more level: shovelling is always a sweaty one!

I'm going to level with you...

After filling the hole with gravel, bags of sand were added on top that could be levelled out with a very large spirit level to lay the slabs on top. Overall a good bit of hard work for everyone and some active strength work that does good for the area. A final run back down the hill and into Richmond Town Centre finished off the evening well.

GG helped to clean up a concealed camp that was left behind in the middle of Petersham Common. The belongings were well concealed, wrapped in chicken mesh wiring and covered in tarp sheets. These items have clearly been there for some time, as a lot of the clothing and books were already disintegrated. After cutting through the wiring, we quickly filled up numerous bags with books, cd’s, dvd’s and other smaller items. We also did a general litter picking around the area and then closed off the Saturday task.

On a humid Saturday morning we managed to find some shelter in the woods just off the Star and Garter Hill. The all-knowledgable Ken explained how rain water runs from the high point of King Henry's mound in Richmond Park all the way to the woods and into a stream, which was partially blocked with vegetation, so we set about clearing it. We also spotted an invasive Norwegian maple and cut it back. There was seven of us from GoodGym on the task including Lucy and her cousin Tilly and a young lad who's completing his Duke of Edinburgh gold award.

Afterwards we went for a coffee and a bite to eat in the café in the magnificent Terrace "mini Kew" Gardens.

Dearly beloved, there was no early morning wake-up call required for the 10am start for this task beside the Petersham Road and the grey skies and rein added to the funereal atmosphere.

Whilst passing motorists may have mistaken GoodGym to be oddly-outfitted gravediggers, the rectangular hole excavated wasn’t a gaping tomb but the foundations for a new horse trough. This is one of two new stone horse troughs planned for the borders of Petersham, a village that has plenty of equine activity including Ham Polo and the temporary home of Park Lane Stables.

Taking the bit between their teeth , Ken Sam and Anita took up picks and spades and hacked out a grave-shaped pit and, after lining it with a water permeable membrane, took a brief pause for horsing-around and irreverently playing dead.

The maw was then back filled with hard core which was tamped down and topped with a further membrane and a layer of sand to provide a solid foundation to the concrete slabs which will support the new trough. It was a bit of a nightmare trying to level and align the slabs but measuring carefully meant they were cemetrical with the Petersham Common sign and ready for final levelling.

With task accomplished, Ken and Anita saddled up to cycle away while Sam galloped away, already in training for next years London marathon.

7 little ducks went swimming one day...that was one of the the aspirations of our mission. Unlikely to find ducks in the woods, but there were 7 of us and a smidge of perspiration to add to the aspiration. 💦The team had to think like water for this one. What would you do as a water droplet running off Richmond Hill? What route would you take?Today's task of digging the shallow catchment area will slow down the water, which would normally run full pelt across and down the common. Running water that fast takes the organic layer with it, depleting essential nutrients on the common. We learned from Ken about soil horizons (layers)...e.g. O = organic layer of leaf litter. 🪻We also had conversations about the bluebells which are just setting seeds and the huge Hornbeam casting it's shadow over our little group of pond makers. 🌳 🦆Let's hope any ducks finding their way into the wooded common appreciate our work. 🦆

This group run took us to the greatest Carolinian landscape in the world and a bat superhighway - Ham Avenues.

Here we came to the rescue of the European lime trees which were being troubled by nasty shoots aka "suckers" growing out from their trunks. These were no match for the GoodGymmers as we used loppers to cut them away.

It was a glorious evening for a gentle run/ walk along the river. We welcomed Joanna to her first GG task, celebrated Maena's birthday and took in Ken's local history knowledge.