Once again we had a very successful Parish Litter pick on Saturday 28th March. On a cold but fine morning about 30 volunteers aged 8 to 80 turned up to help with the annual tidy up.
This year the number of sacks filled was down on previous years due to a variety of reasons. There was a noticeable drop in the number of plastic bags – well done supermarkets – and less evidence of food carriers being thrown out of cars. It was also noticed there was a significant drop in spirit bottles down near West Hagbourne but we were later told that the Motorcycle Club had cleared up the litter down that road a few weeks ago following their recent Trials in that area.
Despite the drop in litter picked up from the roads the size of the final pile dumped just inside the Recreation Ground is about the same as previous years and this is largely down to the initiative of Hilary Powell who together with Henry Bucknell took a trailer up to the footpaths just beyond Alden Farm and cleared all sorts of junk from the hedgerows.
A big thank you to all the volunteers who once again did the parish proud and to staff of the District Council who provided us with all the equipment to work with.
Please note that, having seen the pile of litter collected, I have already received a note of thanks from the District Council in which they have asked me to pass on their thanks to all who turned out to help.
Mike Brown