Marine Conservation Society / Keep Wales Tidy Annual Beach Survey
Saturday 19th September 2009
Thank you to everyone who came along and made the 2009 Marine Conservation Society / Keep Wales Tidy annual beach clean event so successful. It's year three of it being a main event here, and again we were so very pleased to see regulars and newcomers alike in support.
Over 200 volunteers came along; well over 200 bags of litter were collected from nearly 10km of coastline; the total weight at the weighbridge was an amazing 800 kg of litter!
Recovery of the collected litter was made possible from the more inaccessible coves by the invaluable support of a 'flotilla' of boats, including Oswestry, Northern Union, Bury, and Shrewsbury Dive clubs; Bill Miller Jones's; and colin Liz's fishing boats.
David Dewis's sculpture certainly made the day both an artistic adventure and creative partnership; the 'Bottle Nosed Dolphin' took shape over the course of the day with the help of many hands, large and small. Illuminated it looked spectacular.
There is a little 'tail' to tell about the Dolphin. Having been set up on the seaview field surrounded by 200 bags of waste, we were awaiting the cameraman. Unfortunately, whilst we had 'popped out' for an hour, the council (being really keen) came and took all the bags... and... yes, the Dolphin as well!!! But, this was not 'The End'. We managed to track it down, and it was returned, somewhat the worse for wear after a night out on the tip, head bowed in shame, but it will be here next year!
The Manchester based firemen's band 'Quiet Desperation' took to the stage and put on a fantastic performance. Testimony to this is that the second session lasted 1 hr 30 minutes, instead of the intended 40 minutes.
The night was fueled by an excellent spread of food courtesy of Rose Irons, Andy Summerton, and Sue (and not forgetting the appearance of the purple moose - Russ and Kirsten at the pumps); encores kept coming.
Together, we raised £1000 for the charities (Marine Conservation Society and Air Ambulance). 30 new members joined the Marine Conservation Society as a result.
Thank you.
