On Wednesday, 22nd January, The Colne Valley Regional Park (CVRP) team and the Canal and River Trust organised a joint litter-picking and general tidy-up session by the canal on the edge of Denham Country Park heading towards New Denham/Uxbridge. On the day, we were joined by Lizzie from Buckinghamshire Country Parks, Tony Booker from ReAP, a volunteer team from Friends of the Colne Valley, and Nic from Hillingdon Litter Pickers.
The aim for the group was to clear the large amounts of litter that had been accumulating along the Canal, making the walk from New Denham and Uxbridge to Denham Country Park unwelcoming. With this incredible partnership work and the hard-working people on the day, we achieved more than we had hoped for! This was not an easy task, as the heavy litter had to be transported a long distance from the canal to the car park in Denham Country Park.
Sue Seagroatt from Colne Valley Park, who joined us on the day, said: “Thank you so much for clearing up all this rubbish. This is my daily route to work. What a positive improvement. I can walk here and smile again. About 6 months ago the amount of litter reached a level where there was so much it was attracting more litter. My hope is that now it has been cleared, the area looks cared for again and less litter will be discarded here in future.”
But we didn’t stop there. Once the litter was cleared, the team helped Tony Booker from ReAp separate all the plastic so it could be recycled, transformed into plastic boards, and then into a host of other useable items—100% recycled.
Tony Booker from ReAp said: “The volunteers did a splendid job. Reap UK has already sent two vanloads to our fantastic recycling partners, ReFactory, this year, and it looks like a third trip will be on the cards very soon.”
The Colne Valley Park has many stunning sites, such as Denham Country Park, but one of the main problems we have is that the entrances to those places are often neglected and unattractive, making it unpleasant and discouraging for people to enjoy a walk in the countryside. Part of the Landscape Recovery Team’s ambition is to enhance and improve those neglected entrances, and we are delighted with these achievements that day. The area we worked on this day is on the border of Hillingdon and Buckinghamshire, and we hope that residents from both counties, as well as other visitors, will enjoy their next walk to the countryside.
Below you will find more pictures from this very successful day.
There is still more to be done, and we hope to continue this fantastic partnership work again soon. But we would like to send our huge thanks to Canal & River Trust, Bucks Country Parks and all those who joined us for this event. If you are interested in joining us on our next litter pick, please email us at [email protected].
