This evening we returned to the Orchard Triangle. We have a long history with this space, having helped plant and maintain the trees and done lots of weeding and clearing over the past few years.

Over the summer the grass around the fruit trees has got rather long, brambles have started to creep in and some large branches needed chopping and clearing.

Armed with a variety of tools and our usual can-do attitude we cracked on and left the space looking a lot tidier by the end.

A few of us then trotted off into the dusky evening for our post task run, head torches were a must, autumn has certainly arrived.

After a summer hiatus we were back to quizzing at the old favourite, The Rickety Press. 6 of us tackled celebrity autographs, hidden connections, a worrying number of Geography questions, and the inevitable music round. There was only half a point between us and one other team right from the beginning, but we managed to pip them to the post.

As mentioned before, I am stepping back from organising these quizzes now, so anyone else who wants a go - feel free!

In a race against the sunset we headed to Aston's Eyot for a last evening scything session of the year.

The Friends of Aston's Eyot are creating a new meadow area, so the task this evening was to continue to prepare the area for wild flower seeds. We scythed and raked nettles from the perimeter, bashed in 3 fence posts (it needs fencing so the deer don't eat everything), hoed away unwanted seedlings which were popping up, and collected up a vast amount of broken glass. Aston's Eyot used to be a rubbish dump, so there is a huge amount of Victorian glass just below the surface.

Well done on reaching 50 Good Deeds Laura!

MY GOODNESS WHAT WAS THAT WEATHER?!?!?!?

Extra kudos, pats on the back and gold stars to all who came to Hogacre this evening.

This evening moved boxes of manure over that railway bridge, spread the aforementioned manure in various fruit and veg beds, ferried hay from the recently mown meadow, picked apples, and tackled brambles. ALL IN THE HAMMERING RAIN.

No one drowned.....

Well done everyone, and welcome to Goodgym Alice and Jen!! We hope the next session you come to will be a tad drier.....

It was back to school for us on Wednesday evening; giving the garden plot at St Nicholas ' Primary School a very thorough weed ahead of the gardening club getting started again next week.

A couple of years ago we uncovered the garden and polytunnel from beneath a lockdown's worth of weeds, so it was great to see that raised beds had been built and some gardening done. However, with no-one around during the school summer holidays the weeds had taken hold, so there was plenty of digging, lopping and pruning to be done.

A dozen GoodGymers made speedy progress, filling the compost bays, loading the skip (to cover the skeleton, or not to cover the skeleton? That is the question.), and enduring a few nettle stings and bramble scratches along the way. If nettle stings really do protect you from arthritis I think we must all be fully immune now.

Congratulations on your 50th Good Deeds Steve and Andy, and to Katie for reaching an epic 150 Good Deeds!