Whilst the August Bank Holiday Monday was in full swing, we weren't going to PASS up the opportunity to get a good run in and in true goodgym style we combined this with a good deed..

This weeks group run good deed was to carry out a survey of the fish passes on the River Don for the Don Catchment Rivers Trust to ensure that the passes are kept clear from debris to maintain the path for the fish in the area to make it upstream.

On the whole things were looking happy and healthy and in a true flow state!

We got some good mileage in and Nathanael got some great photos along the way!

Until next time, happy running :)

3 intrepid explorers set off from The Showroom in search of fish passes in and on weirs along the course of the River Don in central Sheffield. These features in the river need to be inspected and evaluated every so often to make sure they are serving the purpose for which they were installed, flagging up any issues to be fixed. There is a form with set criteria on to be evaluated at each site. As we were a small group tonight we elected to stay together to do the inspections, rather then split up and cover a greater number. We still managed to inspect 4 sites and cover 6km in our alloted time. Great job team GG!

After inspecting as many passes as we could, including Sanderson's Weir, Burton Weir, Walk Mill and Lady's Bridge, we headed back to The Showroom to stretch off before bidding each other adieu.

6 Goodgymmers run across the 4 Weird of Sheffield. Did check ups, taken photos. discussed various routes to take and followed Health and Safety Regulations. A very hot evening but very enjoyable. Then got treated to cool ice creams to cool us down.

3 Women Goodgymmers ran to Steelbank Weir and checked all the weirs. Spotted a Kingfisher by 3 Queenfishers (The 3 Women Goodgymmers). So much of excitement and a beautiful sight for us to see.

A HUGE GG welcome to first time runners:

Grace Michael Matt

Please give them a cheer and a follow and we hope to see you back soon!

Something new this week, we were running to help monitor & maintain fish passes in the River Don.

We had Matt from the Don River Trust who ran with us to show us the ropes when surveying the many fish pathways that The Don has in place to allow fish of many kinds to make safe passage to an area where they can spawn in a good habitat.

It was great fun and very educational and we got to 4 fish passes of different types.

DID YOU KNOW..

There is a website dedicated to allowing fish through a door that YOU can open..

The fish doorbell

See a fish? Ring the bell!

Welcome to the Fish Doorbell. Will you help fish pass the city boat lock?

Every spring fish migrate upstream, in search of places to spawn. They swim through the centre of the city of Utrecht. Unfortunatly, the boat lock is closed during spring. You can help the fish.

Do you see a fish? Press the Doorbell!

All the photos are collected. When there are enough fish waiting, the lock will be opened.

https://visdeurbel.nl/en/the-fish-doorbell/

Last century, when George Orwell visited Sheffield, he had this to say about it ...

Even Wigan is beautiful compared with Sheffield. Sheffield, I suppose, could justly claim to be called the ugliest town in the Old World: its inhabitants, who want it to be pre-eminent in everything, very likely do make that claim for it. It has a population of half a million and it contains fewer decent buildings than the average East Anglian village of five hundred. And the stench! If at rare moments you stop smelling sulphur it is because you have begun smelling gas. Even the shallow river that runs through the town is-usually bright yellow with some chemical or other.

Well George, Sheffield, and its river, has changed considerably!

Part of that is due to the work of the Don Catchment Rivers Trust - https://dcrt.org.uk

Now GG Sheff are helping DCRT by inspecting the 8 fish passes on the Don between Steel Bank and Meadowhall each month to ensure they are flowing freely.

This is a great task and a really interesting way to learn about our city, the history of the river Don and the wildlife it supports.

Kudos to Celine for forging the link between GG Sheff and DCRT, and for setting up this mission on a monthly basis 👏