The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

On a number of occasions, Lee Valley park Authority (LVPA) volunteers have worked with the Canal and River Trust (CRT) in keeping the surrounding environment of the River Lee clear of litter as it goes through the park. The clearing of the Swan and Pike pool a couple of years ago was an example where teams of volunteers from both organisations successfully worked together.

We were recently made aware of a national CRT initiative whereby local groups could ‘adopt’ a stretch of river or canal to keep it clean, rather like stretches of highway are adopted by the local community or businesses in the US. We were told by CRT that as yet, nobody had adopted any stretches of the R. Lee.

We decided it would be beneficial in a number of ways for LVPA to get involved in this and to actively maintain a specific section of our river, and to that end we decided to ask the CRT if we could officially ‘adopt’ the section by the Whitewater Centre from Waltham Town Lock to Waltham Common Lock, as this is a high profile section of the Lee which sees much public use.

This has now been agreed and the attached certificate gives record of our responsibility in maintaining this stretch. Since then, a small party of LVPA volunteers (The ‘A’ team of litterpickers) has carried out a number of litterpicking blitzkriegs in conjunction with the CRT and removed a significant amount of rubbish. This exercise is being repeated on a monthly basis, in order to make sure it stays clean and attractive.”

Nice to see locals looking after their waters Corneybury.

Brilliant stuff and lets hope the fruits of your labours rubs off onto those who cause the problems in the first place. We go around our local area picking up the rubbish left behind by those that walk there. why do people pick up dog poo, put it in a plastic bag and then decorate trees and bushes with it?

God only knows....I hate to say it, but we also pick up discarded spam/sweetcorn tins and other stuff which come (probably) from anglers. I was always taught that if you go fishing, not only leave nothing but your footprints but also clean the area around you, even if it is not your rubbish

Good work that man - a fine example to us all.

Well done Corneybury. When I lived in N. London the Lea Valley was very important to me, both as a place to fish and as somewhere to visit with my family for walks and birdwatching. Where I live now, in Sussex, there is an author and humourist, David Sedaris, who litter-picks daily on his walks around the local lanes. His attitude seems to be "Look at all the crap people have dumped in this beautiful place, why wouldn't I pick it up?" I find that both humbling and inspiring.
Good luck to you and your fellow pickers in the future.

Thank you. I hate to say it but it’s a never ending task. Why are we the only species that wantonly fouls its own environment?

Well done . With enough notice I might try and pop along to help . I love the Lea , and cannot understand why anyone would or even could pollute it or litter it . I know Pike pool at Enfield absolutely lovely stretch

The LVPA Conservation volunteers meet every Wednesday.

Here is the website for details - you’d be very welcome!

Regards

David

https://www.visitleevalley.org.uk/en/co ... ctivities/

Reading that quickly show the "rub"; in order to protect themselves from claims of negligence, the LVPA has to train its volunteers and make them aware of how to do the work safely, so they require a fair amount of commitment of time. And I mean fair in both the "considerable" and "justified" senses.
Sadly, although I'm retired, I'm needed to ferry SWMBO round to various music exam centres, and the exams seem to come up at chaotic and unpredictable times and places, so my schedule is at the mercy of several schools and two exam boards, plus "special visits" organised ad hoc by other teachers, so I can't realistically commit.
If there's any scope for helping when gaps in the exams appear at the same time as litter-picks, I'd love to come along, but it looks as though Elfin Safety may have scotched that.

Anyhow, brilliant work, and more power to your collective elbows! (hmm, no "Glass raised to your health" icon?)