UKC

***Please note change of date from previous post***

Hi Everybody

Apologies for the late notice, but I’ve had to put this back one week as Kevin Caster from the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) has an unavoidable clash on the 1st. I’ve already contacted those who have very kindly emailed me to offer help. To save time, I’ve reproduced the rest of the notice from the previous posting...

Volunteer helpers are requested for a litter clean up at Wintour's Leap on Sunday March 8, which I’m organising together with Kevin Caster from the GWT. We last did this three years ago, and since then the London Mountaineering Club have carried out a very commendable impromptu clean-up, but sadly the fly-tipping detritus and other litter has accumulated again, particularly in the vicinity of the Easy Way Down and the foot of the South Bay. In addition, depending on the amount of muscle available on the day, there’s lots of old scrap metal lurking in the undergrowth below the crag – if we can shift it, the place will be better for it.

I’ll be bringing an abseil rope to clean the ledges near the Easy Way Down, and if anyone else has the gear and is comfortable doing cleaning operations on an ab rope there’ll be room for one or two more, but the bulk of stuff is accessible on foot so no specialist equipment is needed, with the exception of a good pair of tough gloves – a lot of the rubbish is sharp, jagged bits of metal or broken glass, and some of it will also be stuck in brambles. We will provide bags.

I suggest gathering at the parking spot on Lancaut Lane around 9.30-9.45, and we’ll then move on to the Easy Way Down area – if you turn up a bit late, just head to the top of the Easy Way Down and you’re sure to find someone. This should give enough time to finish the job by early afternoon so people can get a route done in the afternoon sun... If you are thinking of coming, could you let me know either on this thread or by email – it’s just so I can get an idea of numbers – extra volunteers will always be welcome on the day. It will also help me plan sustenance and refreshments!

Thanks for your help – the efforts climbers have made over the years in removing litter and fly-tipping waste have really made a difference to the place and to our public image.

Cheers
Rick Sewards
BMC Wye Valley Access Rep

In reply to Rick Sewards:

Hi Rick,
I'll be there. Let me know if I need to bring anything specific.
Jem

In reply to Rick Sewards:

Hello Rick I'm pretty sure I can make this , will confirm by email on Friday . I have a 50m plus ab rope & rigging gear too so more than happy to help cleans ledges .

Cheer Leon

In reply to Jem Cowen:

Hi Jem - that's great, thanks very much!

In reply to Boogs:

Thanks very much Leon - see you on Sunday! Thanks also to those who've contacted me by email to say they're coming - much appreciated

Cheers
Rick

In reply to Rick Sewards:

Hi Rick
me and a friend will be down sunday but can only stay till 1pm
Ian

In reply to Rick Sewards:

I'lll try to come along too.

In reply to Rick Sewards:

"sustenance and refreshments" .......Wow

In reply to Rick Sewards:

I didn't see this when first posted (my fault - should have kept an eye on this forum) and I'm not free on March 8 - if I had been free I would have come. I am very fond of Wintour's!

I hope you all have a splendid day.
Lizzie

In reply to barney rubble:

Thanks Ian - much appreciated

In reply to paul wood:

Cheers Paul, will see you there. Have got to work out how to make good on rash promises of "sustenance and refreshments"...

Rick

In reply to BusyLizzie:

Thanks Lizzie - sadly, there will probably be the need for another such occasion in a few years time...

Rick

In reply to Rick Sewards:

Big round of applause for organising the clean up Rick.

In reply to Mark Storey:

Thanks Mark, and thanks for your sterling efforts with the haul bucket!

A massive thank you to merry band of volunteers who came - a great turnout, and thanks also to Kevin Caster of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust and the Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA). A really magnificent effort, that resulted in three truck-loads of rubbish being taken away, and I honestly don't think Wintour's Leap has been this clean for as long as I've been climbing there - a load of scrap metal that's been rusting away there for at least 30 years was removed, together with all the more recent detritus.

"Highlights" included a car roof from under Fly Wall (no, I've no idea how or why either, but thanks to SARA for hauling it out), several televisions (in pieces down the crag), microwaves, a hoover, bottles, cans, and a load of scrap metal so far gone it was impossible to tell which household appliance it originally came from. For those that don't know the crag, it's worth pointing out that it's a 300' cliff BELOW the road, so all of this needed to be moved against the pull of gravity!

It may be a forlorn hope that it will stay clean for a while, but you can but hope. One possible positive sign was that immediately after the clean-up was finished I did manage to persuade a couple of lads that driving golf balls of the top of the cliff really wasn't a great idea (and thereby identifying the source of the golf balls lurking in the undergrowth...)

Cheers
Rick

In reply to Rick Sewards:

Good effort - I met these two characters (teenagers by the look of them) driving balls off the top of the easy way down last year. We gave them a Paddington stare and they went away.

In reply to Rick Sewards:

Wow! What a stellar effort!

Thank you Rick and everyone else involved. I love Wintours and your work is really appreciated.