River deep, litter high

Mel, Sam, Betsy, Tess and I met at the Lido to tackle the litter caught in the adjacent creek.

Both Mel and Betsy had brought long-handled nets to reach the furthest litter and we were able to stand on the partly-submerged ledge to collect the multiple items of rubbish.

Mel did a stirling job and had to be persuaded to stop after 90 minutes. Sam and Betsy also collected 2 large bags of litter by collecting right around the edge of the creek. And Sam found a charming little collection of toys and a Minnie Mouse hairbrush!

A passer-by stopped to thank us and to explain that the swans had made a nest in this busy corner of the creek during the peace of lockdown, weaving litter in with the grasses, and managed to hatch their 3 eggs just before lockdown eased.

We collected such a lot of litter and made a visible difference to the creek, but I think we'll be back here again when more litter gets washed to the end of the creek.