Litter!!

[anthonykay]

There is a small wood on the opposite side of a footpath from one of Loughborough's newer housing developments, with a clear trod through the wood even though there is no public access. [In recent years there has been a repeated sequence of signs being put up to deter access, then the signs are vandalised, and after a while replaced by new signs.]

I was walking through the wood on Monday when I came upon the remains of a party: charred remains from a wood fire, around which were scattered drinks cans, a few plastic bottles and some broken glass; fortunately not too much of the latter. According to the Trespasser's Companion https://www.trespasserscompanion.org, one should pick up litter while trespassing; I do in any case sometimes pick litter up on my walks. So today I went back with a small rucksack and collected most of the drinks cans, plastic and broken glass, but not the charred stuff, and I certainly didn't manage to clear up every piece of plastic or broken glass. There's someone in our Male Voice Choir who sells waste aluminium for recycling and gives the proceeds to choir funds, so he will get the drinks cans.

[Witton Park]

There is a small wood on the opposite side of a footpath from one of Loughborough's newer housing developments, with a clear trod through the wood even though there is no public access. [In recent years there has been a repeated sequence of signs being put up to deter access, then the signs are vandalised, and after a while replaced by new signs.]

I was walking through the wood on Monday when I came upon the remains of a party: charred remains from a wood fire, around which were scattered drinks cans, a few plastic bottles and some broken glass; fortunately not too much of the latter. According to the Trespasser's Companion https://www.trespasserscompanion.org, one should pick up litter while trespassing; I do in any case sometimes pick litter up on my walks. So today I went back with a small rucksack and collected most of the drinks cans, plastic and broken glass, but not the charred stuff, and I certainly didn't manage to clear up every piece of plastic or broken glass. There's someone in our Male Voice Choir who sells waste aluminium for recycling and gives the proceeds to choir funds, so he will get the drinks cans.

Nice move Anthony and something I also come across in the glades around here.

I do see a certain irony in that the older end, middle aged and upwards, are often blamed for ruining the planet for the yoof, yet the yoof are the worst litterers in my experience.
I have been known to pick discarded litter up immediately when following youngsters down the footpath and then hand it back to them "Excuse me mate, I think you just dropped this..."

Keep Britain Tidy should be re-launched and start young, in primary schools, making it socially unacceptable to litter.

[Llani Boy]

Nice move Anthony and something I also come across in the glades around here.

I do see a certain irony in that the older end, middle aged and upwards, are often blamed for ruining the planet for the yoof, yet the yoof are the worst litterers in my experience.
I have been known to pick discarded litter up immediately when following youngsters down the footpath and then hand it back to them "Excuse me mate, I think you just dropped this..."

Keep Britain Tidy should be re-launched and start young, in primary schools, making it socially unacceptable to litter.

A few years ago when driving home from the last Litton Christmas Cracker Fell Race, it is back on this year BTW, I saw a teenage lad stood beside a car in a lay-by about to throw a pizza box, frisbee style into Cressbrook Dale.

I pulled up and shouted at him but the box was already airbourne. An older man then appeared from the car and ran towards me shouting and swearing at me. I thought this could turn nasty so drove off. After a couple of miles I was aware of a car tailgating me and blasting its horn. It was occupied by the same two morons in the lay-by. It then tried to overtake me but was unable to due to oncoming traffic. It was getting a bit scary and dangerous so I put my long thought forgotten evade and escape advanced driving skills into action, which did the trick!

[Mossdog]

There's litter and there's..erm...'litter'.

Yesterday I headed up to Swindale to spend the night wild camping at the head of the dale. I've been visiting this area for over 30 years, and have watched a once productive small farming community, with sheep, beef cattle, etc., deteriorate into a soulless' re-wilded 'park' thanks to United Utilities and the RSPB driving out the farming families. Sure, there's a handful of Belted Galloways, but this once productive food landscape, with a wealth of human settlement history is regressing. Previously such communities in this area were flooded, to make way for reservoirs - so there is a history of replacement. Anyway, on the up side, I guess if/when we need greater national food security, at least we can rely upon a bounty of grass hoppers, beetles and meadow pipits to stock our larders.

And the 'litter'? Well, if you visit the head of Swindale and the slopes around Wet Sleddale too, you'll find hundreds of stout wooden posts, and tall, metal wire mesh tree guards attached, scattered liberally over the fell sides. A good 90% of these have no tree/shrub growth at all (they appeared 5 years ago) and the rest have some scabby deciduous trees. Some of the posts and guards have fallen over and are well enmeshed within ground covering scrub/grass. If I'd wheeled a few hundred shopping trolleys to the fell side and dumped them there, I'd be quite rightly condemned for littering. I do wonder if there will be further 'grants ££' for sorting out the mess left over this beautify area, or maybe the original grants/funds included an element to clear up the residual mess.

[Mossdog]

There's litter and there's..erm...'litter'.

Yesterday I headed up to Swindale to spend the night wild camping at the head of the dale. I've been visiting this area for over 30 years, and have watched a once productive small farming community, with sheep, beef cattle, etc., deteriorate into a soulless' re-wilded 'park' thanks to United Utilities and the RSPB driving out the farming families. Sure, there's a handful of Belted Galloways, but this once productive food landscape, with a wealth of human settlement history is regressing. Previously such communities in this area were flooded, to make way for reservoirs - so there is a history of replacement. Anyway, on the up side, I guess if/when we need greater national food security, at least we can rely upon a bounty of grass hoppers, beetles and meadow pipits to stock our larders.

And the 'litter'? Well, if you visit the head of Swindale and the slopes around Wet Sleddale too, you'll find hundreds of stout wooden posts, and tall, metal wire mesh tree guards attached, scattered liberally over the fell sides. A good 90% of these have no tree/shrub growth at all (they appeared 5 years ago) and the rest have some scabby deciduous trees. Some of the posts and guards have fallen over and are well enmeshed within ground covering scrub/grass. If I'd wheeled a few hundred shopping trolleys to the fell side and dumped them there, I'd be quite rightly condemned for littering. I do wonder if there will be further 'grants ££' for sorting out the mess left over this beautify area, or maybe the original grants/funds included an element to clear up the residual mess.