Photos available

For the first time in 2018 two volunteer photographers gave their time to come and support the event, roaming the towpath as the work was done. This has given us one of the best records of what the clean-up events are all about. Some of the photos are on a separate page on the 2018 event here.

Annual event a little later this year

The 2018 event took place a month or so later then has been the normal pattern in previous years, due to difficulties in securing the base venue and availability of partners.  The event was safety managed by the Canal and River Trust who also provided a van of equipment. Long litter pickers were particularly helpful for reaching beyond the reeds at the edge of the towpath.

Bad weather didn't last

Rain was forecast for the day before, but not on the day. There was concern abut how slippery the conditions would be. In the event the day started with more rain, and the safety briefing moved indoors. By the time the teams moved off from base the rain had pretty much stopped and the conditions quite bearable.

Additional help from canoe team

This year we had additional help from a team of canoists based at the Jubilee River. They have helped with a number of litter clearance events using the canoes to access sections of water not reachable from the banks. The density of rubbish tangled up in the reeds near the basin made their progress very slow, they had filled an empty boat with bottles and cans by the time they were 100M from the basin. However this is the kind of deep cleaning which only rarely takes place and so is very valuble.

It is a terrible shame that more runnish will be dropped into the canal immediately after the volunteers have completed their purge.