5 Goodgymers joined taskowner Karen and another volunteer at Spital Cemetery for the first workparty of the year And we couldn't have picked a more beautiful day! Sheila, Christina, Tessa and Mary worked on revealing a gravestone from the brambles that were engulfing it. Eventually we were able to read the lettering- the headstone commemorated Helen Poraz, who died at the age of sixteen in 1887 and we think hailed from Courtachy in Scotland. Meanwhile Sue and Maggie worked in the woodland area, clearing the paths and they created a huge deadwood pile using several trunks and large branches, supplemented with smaller branches. This was partly buried with some clods of earth shoveled by Tessa, which will be great for wildlife. They also discovered 2 new graves which had been completely hidden A productive and satisfying morning's work

Halloween seemed an appropriate day to meet at Spital Cemetery for our last workparty of the year and to get ready for Remembrance Day. Maggie (complete with new knee) and I joined taskowner Karen and other volunteers. Our first task was to put up the poppies on the railings behind the war memorial. We decided to arrange them in a garland design, and after a quick bit of maths we fixed them to the railings, stood back and admiredour handiwork. While others litter-picked, and Karen spread some wildflower seeds, we had a stroll through the cemetery, checking that all the war graves were free from ivy, and then settled on a grave which was getting a bit over-run. No more workparties now until the spring

4 GoodGymers joined forces this morning at Spital Cemetery in Windsor. Our task was a simple one, weed a long bed, just leaf the roses alone!! As a political discussion threatened to delay the start, Sheila gently coaxed us over to the task location. As the weeds were pulled, the conversation moved from imminent knee operations, to travels plans to busy over head flight paths, you wouldn't be leaf the subjects covered. The sun appeared and as the temperature rose 🌹 the beds were cleared. Soon it was thyme to bid our goodbyes. We all agreed that we had done a blooming good job!

Jess, Sue and Sheila joined 3 other volunteers at Spital Cemetery. We selected a grave which had been completely covered by an overgrown bush. All that could be seen when we started was a little urn. What lay behind it? We soon discovered that we had selected a Pyracantha bush, which is horribly spikey. Undeterred, we set to work with loppers and secateurs, with the occasional cry of 'Timber!' and 'Ouch!' Grit and determination finally enabled us to reveal 2 graves, belonging to Edith Guy, and 3 members of the Jeffery Family, most of whom had died in 1937, all within one month of each other. Another fun and productive session

Thursday 6:15/ 6:30pm is GoodGym Windsor Night! 👑🏃‍♂️🏃🏻‍♀️

Tonights community mission was at Spital Cemetery clearing weeds and collecting litter. A first for the Thursday evening session.

Bekah ran to The Binoy for 6:15pm to say “hi” to Jen who was walking and then she ran on to the task to meet the others.

We eventually 🤣 gathered at 6:30pm and the task owner Karen and the local cat showed us the area we we needed to tackle. Got on the classic fm for some calming background tunes.

Our fab GoodGym Team tonight was Gareth (welcome to his first Thursday evening session), Jen, Sue, Mandy , Bekah and Didem.

Gareth and Didem set about doing a quick litter pick on their way to the main area of work.

The weeds had over taken the rose garden of remembrance and with traces of ashes visible we had to be mindful not to disturb these. The weeds had blanketed the whole of the bed and some of the roots were really deep. The thistles had also grown very densely Bekah tried to tackle these but they were a bit to prickly. Hopefully after all our hard week the rose will have some space to thrive and any future scatterings will be much nicer.

Jen volunteered herself for condensing the green waste and then Didem and Jen took the bag down for collection.

After the task we opted for a calming quick yoga session perfect for a cemetery. Not that we were much calmer afterwards as it was just too funny 🤣 Jens classic line “I don’t think I’ve ever done yoga in a graveyard before “🤣

At the end we did the Windsor curtsy and bow 👑 and said our goodbyes.

Thank you all for coming ♥️ and Namaste (nah-mah-stay)

Sue, Margaret, Gareth and Sheila met at Spital Cemetery for one of the regular work parties on a beautiful morning. Maggie joined a couple of other volunteers to help clear the bindweed, creeping buttercup and plantain which were trying to take over the rose bed in the garden of remembrance. Meanwhile Sue and Sheila tackled a massive rose root which had infiltrated a grave over many years, and Gareth took on some mature leylandii branches overshadowing another grave. Conditions were difficult, especially for Gareth working in a confined space, but some dogged determination showed some definite progress. The next workparty will include a Goodgym Windsor community mission on the evening of Thursday 25th July. Sign up here