Tim and I went for a brief walk this week - for those that know the area: Far Westhouse past 'the mast' and back down towards the Martons in Thornton in Lonsdale - you'll have driven part of the walk if you're going caving in Kingsdale.

It's a round walk we do quite often - wonderful views of Ingleborough and over towards Morecambe Bay and the Lakes if the weather is fine.

However....am sick of seeing the litter and keep saying 'Must bring a bag and collect it'.

I also heard on the radio recently that one of the ways plastic get into the sea is via litter making it's way down watercourses, hadn't thought of that before so decided to finally stop talking about cleaning up the walk and finally do it properly rather than just bring back a can or two like we usually do.

Here is what we collected:



Included lots of black plastic (from haylage bales?), drink cans, crisp packets, a biro, chocolate bar wrappers but worse of all a soiled nappy wrapped in a plastic bag  :yucky:  ....and the bags were full by time we got half way round    A shame that a half hour walk in the Yorkshire Dales National Park has so much litter and daunting to think how much must be strewn about in the rest - tons and tons 

I'm sure the majority of cavers love/appreciate the countryside above our caves as well as the beauty/wonder of the caves themselves so thought I'd start a thread on litter picking (I know one prominent Red Rose member who picks loads of litter from the lanes around Ingleton - he uses our bins sometimes and pops in for a brew - good on you, Ray  ).

If you have any photos/tales of areas you've cleaned up, please do share, hopefully it will inspire others to pick up some litter even if it is just one little piece, it all helps 

I admire this kind of work. Too many cavers are only willing to do surface cleanup if it directly relates to caves, namely clearing junk out of sinkholes. Often this is done with an exploratory ulterior motive. I have a least three magazine articles on hand describing massive cleanups that were intended to open or reopen cave entrances.

The road I live on is six miles long and travelled by plenty of trashy people. One of my neighbors has made it his personal job to pick up all of the litter along our road. He does a constant and thorough and good-natured job of it and I admire him too.

Very little of my walking happens on trails or public land, so I am thankfully not confronted with constant garbage. What little I see comes from hunters or was dragged there by animals. I fill up my pockets every now and then.

Blimey! A fair bit of recycling there than single use plastics.

Good on you for grabbing it.

ib

That's a super effort Pegasus - very well done. You've prompted me to recount the following.

I was on a run over Whernside in November. Whilst gasping my way up the directissima towards the top I kept coming across assorted items like those you picked up. By the time I got there both hands were full - and I had no bag to put it all in. So I soldiered on with full hands on the long descent and at one point I had to wipe sweat from my eyes. The hand used for this was carrying a plastic food tray which briefly obscured my vision and I took a bad fall.

Sometimes I amaze myself at how many swear words I know. Anyway, I picked myself up, gathered up all the litter again and carried on. By the time I got back to Ribblehead I was limping quite badly and a glance in the car mirror revealed hair matted with blood. But I got that damn litter home and in the bin, which was somehow rather satisfying.

It's a long shot but I'd like to hope at least one person who dropped one of those items might read this. No matter how many idle sods deposit empty packets and bottles (which you were fit enough to carry up there full) there's plenty of other folk who are determined not to let you succeed in ruining this unique landscape.

Part of my job involves keeping a certain area clean and litter free. I've learned that a small amount of litter soon seems to encourage a lot more to be added. The secret is to get on top of any litter problem as soon as possible. So well done Pegasus for flagging this up; I hope you inspire other people to follow your example.

I agree Pitlamp, litter encourages litter - even more reason to pick the dam stuff up....and good effort on the run with hand fulls.  I find if I remember to take a bag I collect rubbish so have just put an empty bag in my coat pocket!

I always carry a bag, either for shopping or litter picking.  No I do not use the same bags twice

I like to think I can recycle some litter.  Aluminium drink cans, copper wire, bits of metal etc.

There is a "pick it up post it up" on UK bouldering.  Get kudos for evidencing your litter collections.  very much like the conservations threads on here but with out the prizes!!!

It definitely works in getting the message out to others to follow suit.  I now, like others , always carry a bag in my rucksack/car for doing collecting on the hoof.  Now I even pick up cans etc on the streets around my home (no shortage unfortunately).  I've found my self having little internal arguments with myself as to whether or not I should have picked that can up back there, and always losing the argument in my head and running back up road to pick it up.  :blink:

SamT said:

I've found my self having little internal arguments with myself as to whether or not I should have picked that can up back there, and always losing the argument in my head and running back up road to pick it up.  :blink:

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ha ha so relate to that.... I lose that argument again and again

I once walked over Penyghent the morning after one of those organised sponsored three peaks events. I didn't have any bags with me, but started picking up those little plastic drink bottle cap protectors, the kind you get on sports energy drinks. Before I got back down to Horton, my pockets were full. I'd obviously walked past all the discarded bottles and myriad other litter.

I find litter picking quite therapeutic in a way, which is good because organising river clean-ups is part of my job. Doesn't make it any less annoying that it's there in the first place.

It's really encouraging that the issue of plastic pollution has finally reached general public and political discourse, in part due to Blue Planet II, but on the back of years of campaigning by NGOs. Hopefully this is just the start of a widespread societal change.

I tell my Scouts that if you see litter and do nothing about, then you're not any better than the person who dropped it there in the first place. I always take something back from our walks in the forest where we live, but nothing like your super effort.
I will take a decent bag next time we go out.
Well done.

paul said:

In my opinion banana and orange peel is also litter. Even if they do eventually rot away, that can take many, many months as nothing eats them.

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Many years ago I sat in the Ogwen car park and fed orange peel to some hungry sheep. They wanted my lunch, but they only got the peel. I think they must have been very hungry, or maybe they had a taste for citrus.

[ Dog Turd posts moved over to a new thread]

I took the opportunity to tidy up that layby this morning where you park for the walk up to Long Kin West etc (above Cold Cotes). To be honest it wasn't bad - and I should point out that the litter there certainly wasn't caver-related.

Drove home from Huntingdon towards the M6 yesterday. Is the A14 the most littered stretch of road in the UK? General roadside rubbish and bits of plastic clinging onto hedgerows all over the place. No wonder the sea is full of the stuff.

Nominate your own Most Littered Stretch of UK Road.

Anyone fancy a walk along Kingsdale road from Yordas to valley entrance to see what we can gather? Will be free mid March onwards

Pegasus said:

Anyone fancy a walk along Kingsdale road from Yordas to valley entrance to see what we can gather? Will be free mid March onwards

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Be great if you could find my Boxer's which blew away in a blizzard after a Bull Pot trip in 1997 

tamarmole said:

Pegasus said:

Anyone fancy a walk along Kingsdale road from Yordas to valley entrance to see what we can gather? Will be free mid March onwards

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Be great if you could find my Boxer's which blew away in a blizzard after a Bull Pot trip in 1997 

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Note to self - wear gloves, some very thick gloves!   

had a quick trip into ireby fell caverns on sunday [ 18 FEBURARY 2018 ]

and some cockwombles had burnt at least 7 tyres in the middle of the track leading to kingsdale - from the waterworks on turbary road

it was still smoking when we arrived - and on our return - the farmer turned up in a mini-all wheel drive . and confirmed that it wasnt there the previous morning

so " obviously " idiots acting under cover of darkness

and on our wway bback down turbary road from the style - a large cardboard box that used to contain " monster " energy drinks - had mysteriously appeared - apart from some mountain bikers - no one else was seen up there - so draw your own conclusions [ yes - we did bring pick it up ]

the pick was taken from about 10m down the track - looking towards kingsdale

it all helps
i removed two plastic bottles half a tents from Kinder last weekend

see something, do something....