“Massive River Clean Up in Keswick”

Canoes make great floating dustbins!. Photo Ruth Burgess

Some of the WCCC river clean up team at the end. Photo Pete Knowles

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Last Sunday, a strong team of members from the local West Cumbria Canoe Club did their bit to clear up the debris from the Big Flood of last December on the river Greta.

Linda Furness of the Keswick Tourism Association had made a special request to the Canoe Club for help to clear unsightly flood debris off the banks of the Greta.  Whilst other local bodies had offered their help and co-operation, it was felt that canoeists were uniquely equipped and experienced to help reach the flood debris, which was often awkwardly stuck between water and land.

Ian Creighton of the West Cumbria Rivers Trust was especially keen to try and get as much plastic as possible out of the river system, because this gets ingested by fish and into the wildlife cycle.  So the teams made this the main priority as they scoured the river and banks for some two kilometres through the tourist heart of Keswick – canoeing, wading and clambering along the banks they collected some forty sacs of plastic.  They also collected a huge amount of other assorted debris that had been washed down by the December flood – including 7 carpets, 2 mattresses and a lot of nasty sharp metal waste – some of it the remains of several caravans that had floated down the river!
 
Co-ordinator and Keswick resident Peter Knowles, said “I was surprised at the amount and the variety of rubbish.  There were some really horrid things that our team pulled out of the river – you don’t want to know the details!  I just admire the enthusiasm of the teams who grafted at this unpleasant job for some four hours, in and out of the cold river.  It was good to see this nasty sharp metal rubbish taken out of the river as I know that in the summer local kids play and wade in it”.  

Dan Jordan, Chair of WCCC said  “As the local canoe club we were delighted to take the lead and do our best to help clear up this, our beautiful local river and help get it ready for the tourist season.  We locals appreciate the Greta as a beautiful river, but it’s perhaps not generally known that the Greta is nationally important as “the best grade 3 kayaking river in England”.  As a local paddler and resident I doubly appreciate and enjoy having such a lovely river on my doorstep.” 

Can you help?

The West Cumbria Rivers Trust are appealing for help for a litter pick along the banks of the River Derwent on Sunday 17th April, meet at Portinscale Bridge at 10.00.  See their website for more details.

For more information on this story please phone Peter Knowles on 017687 73686