Today we joined the Friends of Lesnes Abbey Woods for a spot of conservation work.

Pushing a wheelbarrow of tools to the heath area at the top of the woods was a workout in itself.

Once there, we set about pulling up bracken and digging out brambles to give the purple heather a chance to thrive.

There was plenty of chatting while we worked and afterwards at the cafe where we rounded off the morning with coffee and ice creams.

Join us next month when we're back for more!

Third Saturday of the month is our regularly session with the Friends of the Old English Gardens in Danson Park. Today we braved the rain for a two-part task. Team Roses set about digging up two deeply entrenched rose bushes, while Team Hedges got to work cutting back the box hedges around one of the circular flowerbeds. The rose bushes took some shifting from the sodden soil. We got one out but the other one will have have to wait until next time. The circle of hedging required less brute force and more precision so that, when we got round to where we started, the height matched. We got it just about right! Thank you to Judy and Nicky for having us. We'll see you again next month!

Sarah

Great morning doing our usual Thursday litter picking. It was great seeing Graham and Poppy, i haven't seen them in a while so it would of been rude not to have a coffee and cake to catch up (thanks Graham).

Lesness woods offers an aray of fab hills, history and of course a cafe on route, thats what makes the Thursday litter pick special.

After an early morning of parkrun activity at both Bexley and Dartford parkruns, several Goodgymers met at the Erith Exchange ready to tackle the gardens. Upon arrival I was extremely jealous of the greenhouse with the massive tomato plants growing inside! 🍅

We met with Louis, who gave us tasks straight away, watering and fertilising the plants as well as weeding and planting in other areas.

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With all the gear and not much idea, we were guided by Louis who helped point out the weeds and and the best place for planting the seedlings. There were a mixture of nasturtiums, climbing beans and morning glory which were planted along the fences with the hope that they will climb and bloom.

After all the hard work we couldn’t leave with out visiting the Bookshop cafe for a lovely brunch and coffee! ☕️

What a glorious day to have company on the Lesnes Woods litter pick. This week we headed down the actual ruins where we said hi to a few other volunteers working on the gardens. This week wasn't as bad as usual but we still managed to fill a bag and leave the woods looking 'Spik and Span'

After a Saturday morning parkrun we headed to the Old English Library to help out with the garden. Upon arrival, Nick had already set about working on the “spikey area” 🌵 and introduced us to the head gardener, Louis. We were given a brief history and tour of the garden. The area has improved lots over the last few years, after having all the overgrown brambles removed. Our job was to dead head the fading daffodils and spring tulips and get rid of any weeds and sycamore seedlings. After a short while we could see the improvement. We took a look in the bespoke built greenhouse which is based on the design of the very first mobile library which was located in Erith and the selection of propagated house plants. We couldn’t have left without having brunch in the Bookshop cafe!

Louis works on the garden Wednesday-Friday and holds 2 Saturday sessions a month.