It was a beautiful day on the Ham Lands, fresh but warm and sunny, as 6 GGers gathered for our monthly session with the Friends of Ham Lands.

Much like last month, the task was to clear an area around a tree of brambles and tree suckers. We got stuck in with our loppers and filled multiple big canvas sacks which were dragged off to be emptied in the composting area in the woods.

Our reward for our efforts came in a lovely cup of tea, Jaffa cakes and Tunnocks caramel wafers - as well as the feeling of starting the weekend doing some good!

Seven Richmond GGers gathered at on Riverside Drive on a warm Saturday morning for our monthly mission to maintain the natural habitat of the Ham Lands for the benefit of flora, fauna and the folks who love to spend time there.

As usual Sharon was there with a group of the Friends of Ham Lands, and gave our briefing. This time, our task was to clear the area around an apple tree of brambles, and cut down a patch of sycamore suckers growing nearby.

Now GG Richmond members are not strangers to brambles and we know their ways. But this session’s enemy was up for the fight - fielding some of the longest, thickest and spikiest specimens of their number in their bid to hold their territory.

No match for us or the new tools supplied by Sharon though. We set to work, cutting swathes through the enemy and piling them up ready to be bagged and dragged to a nearby compost area.

Of course we bore the scars of the campaign, with plenty of yelps signalling another casualty in the form of a scratch to a leg or an arm left uncovered in the warm weather. But the battle scars only made us more proud of the victory. Our efforts also paid off with the discovery of a plant not seen in several years!

The sycamores put up less resistance, and will go on to serve the community by adorning a fence recently built from larger, thicker branches.

Our next session on the Ham Lands is here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-the-happy-ham-landers-bd191a17-5b00-42da-ae77-5a8eed086ac4

The morning was cool and pleasant as 4 GG Richmond regulars met up with Sharon and the gang for some good-doing on the Ham Lands.

Today was all about ridding two areas of brambles and tree suckers, which we set to doing with lopped and secateurs. We gathered the cuttings in big canvas sacks which were then emptied into the compost area inside the woods.

It was a very pleasant morning’s work, finished with a lovely cup of tea, and we were on our way to enjoy the weekend!

Another Saturday = another trip to the glorious green space that is Ham Lands. This one saw Rosie, Adam, Chris and Sam tackling aggressively-growing clematis about 100m in from the path along Riverside Drive. While it can be enjoyed in small, carefully grown quantities, clematis is a fast-growing climbing plant which either takes support from the vegetation or trees that it climbs, or spreads as thick ground cover, taking over large areas and out-competing many species - credit Dynamic Dunescapes for the description.

Meanwhile Sabina, on her first task with GoodGym, tackled offshoots from a nearby cherry tree (aka suckers).

After about 90 minutes of gardening in topsy turvy weather we'd earned a coffee and snack from the marvellous Swiss Bakery.

A glorious morning of sunshine greeted the 7 GGers who headed out to the Ham Lands for a morning of doing good. As usual, Sharon was there to meet us and led the group to an area we had tackled around the same time last year, where we had cut down the suckers growing up near the cherry trees.

So it was a morning of sticks (and saplings and brambles). We cut them down from the main tree in the middle, from the surrounding areas and from the undergrowth, and gathered them up to deposit in the ever-increasing pile tucked away amongst the trees.

While most of us were having a stick-y time with the choppers and loppers, Rosie tackled an even stickier challenge left behind by a passing canine to help prevent sticky shoes for walkers using the pathway 💩

We worked hard and made a lot of progress, and at the end of our allotted time we had made a real difference, as well as soaking up some vitamin D from the warming sunshine.

All that was left was a group picture before we headed off to the Swiss bakery for delicious coffees and snacks.

Next time up is the 8th June - you can sign up here: https://www.goodgym.org/v3/sessions/helping-the-happy-ham-landers-3ae1f524-d6fd-44ec-a291-890a4ec45133

Finally! The first sunny Saturday morning task at Ham Lands!

A large group including 8 GG members and other volunteers gathered for our monthly mission maintaining the natural habitats of the Ham Lands, and the difference of a sunny day was evident in the smiles and energy of everyone present as we set about our task for the morning.

This session saw us tackling some large areas of brambles. Armed with loppers, shears and secateurs we split into groups and got to work.

The time whizzed by as we made rapid progress, taming the wild bramble patches and creating a huge pile of cuttings as we went. It was a very satisfying mission, made all the more enjoyable by coffees and snacks at the Swiss bakery afterwards!

Next session at Ham Lands will be on 11th May: keep an eye out for the listing and sign up!