Emptying the tank!

Clearing up at Stompie Garden!

It was a beautiful afternoon in Bermondsey, a lot nicer than it was this time last week when this visit was initially planned for!

Due to a few injuries and bouts of forgetfullness, the group was split into runners and walkers. The walkers set off a little earlier and we met them there a few minutes later!

We knew we had arrived at the garden because of the ginormous tank sitting in the middle of it.

What's the story?!

The tank is thought to have originally been used by the Czech military during the fighting of the Prague Spring reforms in 1968, but was then brought to London for the filming of the movie, Richard III, and later purchased in 1995 by local property developer, Russell Gray. He had wanted to build on the empty lot, but his proposal was shut down by the city council. Gray, who initially bought the tank as a toy for his son, following the council's rejections placed it in the empty lot with the cannon pointing rather conveniently in the direction of the Southwark Council’s planning offices.

Steps were taken by the council to have the tank removed from the property, but Gray had actually obtained legal permission to keep it on the land. The city council approved the permits thinking he had meant “septic tank”!!! And it still sits there to this day, often being decorated or painted by various local artists.

The garden has recently been transformed into a lovely community space which is what we were tasked to help with! We were greeted by Peter who we met on our previous visit at Tabard Garden Allotments. He looks after a few spaces in the area and this one in particular needed some work.

There was a big patch at the back which was totally covered in weeds and a huge overgrown bush of ivy that was covering the fence and beyond. We split into to groups and started clearing as much as possible. Bags were getting filled at lightning speed. It is always quite easy when everything is a weed and you don't have to tiptoe around potential precious plants.

After 40 minutes, the place had been transformed and it was all hands on deck to bag up as much green waste as possible. Matt wheeled the bags to the corner on his little trolley and it was time to go!

Those in running gear joined me for a little core workout in Tabard Gardens. A circuit consisting of 3 exercises - slow mountain climbers, bicycle crunches and dead bugs to get all the different muscles in the abdominals working. A strong core is super important for running as it enables you to keep a nice upright posture and run faster for longer. As soon as your core gives up, you begin to slouch and hinge at the waist and you quickly lose running efficiency so it's certainly worthwhile including a few little core moves a few times a week. Doesn't have to be much, we literally did about 6 minutes worth and you can't say you don't have time for that! Just finish your run 6 minutes earlier and come home and do a few reps.

A little jog back to the office followed by a stretch and we were done!

Great work everyone! Peter was absolutely DELIGHTED with all the work you got done! The garden is now ready to have some new plants put in for the summer. Well done and see you next time for our last GoodGym run!