Becoming a Womble.

Hi Folks.

I think I am becoming a womble, this litter picking lark is addictive. I was out at 8.40am with my grabber and an old coal bag, thought of recycling one of them to save my black bags. Little did I know I would need two more empty coal bags before I was finished.

Yesterday when we tried to moor up and ended up over a foot away from the bank, there was a rotten rag rug right on the bank, where you could not miss it, so I am surprised no one had removed it before. Even those mowing the grass must have mowed over it a few times this Spring and Summer, so that was the first thing I picked up this morning. I also collected an old paint tin. As I walked back towards the boat my attention was drawn to two dustbin liners in the hedge.

 

Now I could see them, so why have they never been removed?

As I pulled the bags out of the hedgerow, they began to fall apart revealing their contents. Sad to say they were full of beer cans, bottles, crisp packets and plastic glasses, so I reckon these were left after the Shackerstone Festival by a boater or boaters. I had filled two bags so I had to collect another bag to do the opposite direction. Unfortunately some of the rubbish I could not reach without doing myself an injury, so I had to pass it by, which actually really annoyed me.

I was thinking about who actually got me started on this mission and I have to give credit to Bill on NB Wilver and Maffi on NB Milly M. Bill volunteered through British Waterways and has been on a mission ever since to rid the countryside of litter, as has Maffi and I am now one of the ever growing team of people litter picking. It really makes a difference and not just to how the towpath looks, it also makes a difference to the wildlife. A couple of years ago, I saw a Mallard caught up in the plastic loops off of beer cans. I tried very hard to catch the Mallard, who had her foot caught up making it hard for her to swim. I managed to un-loop the plastic from around her foot, but before I could get the whole thing off, she took flight. I do not know if she survived, but that is just one example of the problems litter and rubbish can cause.

So who watched "Children In Need" last night, hands up????

Matt Baker is amazing. Peddling a Rickshaw from Edinburgh to London 484 miles was one hell of a way to raise money for the cause, so congratulations to Matt, who has raised well over 1 Million pounds that is incredible. Everyone who helped to raise the total so far which is £26,332,334. I watched some of the evenings events, along with "I'm A Celebrity". Sinitta was up for the bush tucker trial and to be honest even though she only got 4 stars, she did very well. It amazes me that someone can be that scared of everything. So well done to Sinitta for not bottling out. Anthony Cotton is doing the next trial, so lets see how many times he screams. He seems to be getting upset over everything and with everyone at the moment. Looking forward to tonight's program.

Chat soon xx