Walk, ferry, walk, pub, walk, beach, litter picker, plastic, trash, sand spick n span. Done!

Needing to get out the marina and feeling like we'd be slacking on the litter relay, David and I picked a somewhat sunny Sunday to take the ferry across to South Shields and do a beach clean. We were joined by fellow GoodGym-er Aimee who cycled all the way to us in the cold (and only fell over once!) Getting to the ferry was some effort with all the ice, but we made it safely, and only got a tiny bit lost on the other side looking for lunch on our way to the beach. Feeling very pro with a litter picker each and even a bin ring, we were immediately rewarded with an adorable 3-month-old puppy, and some beautiful scenery. Litter picking itself was a bit of a challenge initially, as even the sand had frozen in some places, and it can be tricky to differentiate between frozen leaves and plastic! But once we got our eyes in, there was no stopping us. Plenty of tiny plastic bits, a few wrappers, one abandoned and frozen t-shirt, and a weird amount of tampon applicators were our trophies for the day and provided plenty of entertainment for the day! Because we'd eaten first and the ferry was finishing early due to the ice, David was sad we wouldn't let him watch the football, but we all felt very proud of ourselves and happy to have spent a sunny (albeit icy) day on the beach. We even managed to get home without falling over and treated ourselves to a Baileys hot chocolate as a well deserved reward ☕️

It was a very mild October evening down in the Ouseburn Valley this evening, with the weather offering no clue of the effects of the edge of Storm Ashley that we caught yesterday. Whilst we know we were let off very lightly compared to some parts of the country, nevertheless, Ashley meant that we weren’t short of work on our mission tonight!

Armed mostly with brooms and rakes, and the odd set of shears, we started with a leg workout as we made our way up the steps from the bottom to the top of the valley! We followed that with a lateral core workout - it’s always surprising how much torso rotation is involved in sweeping and raking - and we did an awful lot of sweeping and raking tonight to clear away the leaves and twigs deposited by the storm. Together with some expert clipping by Pippa, double brooming by Adam, the reverse rake technique demonstrated by Scott, and some rather acrobatic broom balancing by Tom, the rest of us, Aimee, Max, Jack, David and I managed to clear A LOT of paths! It was surprising how many people walk through the valley despite the dark, so hopefully our efforts will be appreciated.

Somewhat fortuitously, the last path we cleared led directly to the pub - can’t imagine how that happened! Top task owner Dave wowed us with his hi-viz multi-functional kilt and educated us with stories about the houses that were cleared from the valley in order to build the Metro Bridge, and the fact that the bridge is constructed with huge concrete blocks glued together! Think about that next time you’re on the Metro at Byker - or actually, maybe don’t! Dave also insisted on buying the drinks tonight - a truly top guy! Thanks Dave!

As usual, a win for us tonight with the final score Ashley 0 - GoodGym 1!