Shotley Beachwatch 2008

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside………

…..on a very sunny, still day in September [20th], as part of the national Beachwatch event, 17 well armed and well intentioned individuals - councillors, council employees, grannies, grandchildren, and those in-between ….. picked, sorted and logged the litter, washed up or dropped on 200 metres of Shotley beach.

We filled ten bags with mostly plastic and metal pieces (some quite large), sweet wrappers, rope, rubber (incl several shoes), cloth, drinks cans, paper, wood and polystyrene. We also collected an amazing 669 pieces of glass, one intact glass bottle and 115 pieces of ceramic! In all, we estimated it weighed around 100kilos. Some of our more interesting finds included:

• a tennis racket cover;
• metal chair and table frames;
• a large reel of plastic sheeting;
• a garden spade - still usable;
• a remote control car;
• a remote control helicopter; and finally
• a wooden sign (15”x 24”) - possibly from a Russian ship with printed instructions “do not disembark your animals” (we think) - if there are any translators out there, please do contact the Editor.

The Parish Council would like to thank all those who took part this year, especially the children who seemed to really enjoy the morning and hopefully we will see them again next year. Your help really does make a difference. Our thanks also to Babergh District Council for the loan of their litter pickers and gloves.

The results we send to Beachwatch are analysed by the Marine Conservation Society and published in the Beachwatch Report the following Spring. The data is used by MCS to raise awareness of the impacts of litter, to campaign at a national level on marine litter issues and to promote measures to reduce litter at source.

Linda Rowlands
Parish Clerk
September 2008

Sponsored by Shotley Parish Council.

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