Cleaning The Wandle January 2020

North Road, Merton. Sunday 12-January-2020.

Counter-intuitively now that I am retired I get to clean up the Wandle less often. Half the year we are in Italy so that wipes out the summer months. Over the winter we are no longer constrained by work and are all over the place visiting various parts of the UK and with the best will in the world that often happens on a 2nd Sunday.

This year we started with a clear 2nd Sunday and off I went with my waders and a thermos flask of homemade soup.

The first time I helped tackle this stretch we pulled out a large number of bicycles from the water courtesy of the bridge over whose parapet they had clearly been chucked. This time fallen trees resulted in a large number of floating plastic bottles being trapped so that’s a fair amount of plastic not making its way to the river and hence to the sea.

That's me in the black baseball cap.

It reminded me that each stretch of the river has its own distinctive rubbish based on the demographic of the area. In King George‘s Park it is shopping trolleys because of the nearby Southside shopping centre. Beddington Park had a huge collection of tyres courtesy of the nearby trading estate. Ravensbury Park had a large number of wine bottles, presumably detritus from picnics in the park. This visit we had multiple car number plates, I’m not quite sure why that should be. Also the usual traffic cones and coconuts, etc.

I managed to dip my armpit below the waterline while reaching for some rubbish and filled my waders with icy water. It was sufficiently unpleasant and my toes sufficiently numb that I bailed out at lunchtime and went home for an early bath.

Official report from The Wandle Trust: https://www.wandletrust.org/wandle-cleanup-january-2020-merton/

Wandle Fortnight 2018

Wandsworth, London.

Wandling: Beer, a long walk and a short walk.

We were always planning to come back to the UK in September to celebrate my birthday. But when we heard about the Wandle Fortnight we decided to bring the UK flight forward a few days so that we could take part in a couple of the events. Wandle Fortnight is a "community-led celebration of all things Wandle running from September 8th to September 23rd".

Saturday 15-Sep-18.

Saturday was a bit hectic. It started with an early train to Reigate to do a park run followed by a cup of tea with my sister, followed by lunch with my mother in the residential home, then a train back up to London for the Wandle Beer festival.

They had about 60 beers on tasting. You got a pint glass with marks for a full pint, a half pint, and a third pint. That way, by drinking thirds, you could try a wider variety of beer. You bought a voucher for 5 pounds marked off in 10p. As you drunk your beer they scored off the relevant price 10p's. Any unused value on the card could be donated at the end of the evening to the nominated charity the Cat Protection League - a most worthy cause.

There seems to be something of a trend these days for brewing IPA of which I am not great fan. So I went for the two milds that were on offer and then tried a variety of porters.

It was better attended than the photo makes it look. There were a number of people seated behind me when I took this photo. We were joined for a couple of pints by our friends Gavin and Tania. When we had done enough beer tasting we headed off to Tooting Market for something to eat and a glass of wine at the always excellent Unwined.

Sunday 16-Sep-18.

The 30th anniversary of the inaugural Wandle Trail walk from Charing Cross to Croydon. You might wonder why it started at Charing Cross. It’s because the Long Distance Walkers Association don’t think the Wandle Trail is long enough so they added on an extra 5 miles. Oh my aching feet!

The newly opened promontory at Battersea Park.

The Wandle Creek, now improved by the removal of the barrier .

Looking the other way towards Bell Creek.

A small detour to the underpass by Wandsworth Bridge where a scene from Clockwork Orange was filmed.

My Dad was a great film buff and would have loved to know I lived so close to this spot.

The snuff mills at Morden Hall Park.

We followed the full path down to one source of the Wandle at Carshalton Ponds and then across to the other source in Wandle Park.

A long day and a long walk.

The walk ended up in Croydon and we took the tram home for a long soak in warm bath.

Wednesday 19-Sep-18.

Doing stuff about Wandsworth Town centre I always like to have a peer at the ex-Ram Brewery site to see how the river is doing. A pleasant surprise to see that the site is now open and there is a foot bridge from the High Street over the river so you can now access a stretch of the river previously hidden within the brewery.

The new landscaping is in full foliage.

On both sides. Not very extensive, and one might even say cosmetic, but a great improvement on the previous vertical sided concrete channel.

View back towards the new footbridge, Wandsworth High Street and Southside shopping centre.

View towards the Armoury Way road bridge.

Thursday 20-Sep-18.

Mapping the Mills - Walk 2. "Explore the significance of the River Wandle in establishing a millennium-long tradition of flour milling in Wandsworth. Walk, from Earlsfield Station to the Causeway, Wandsworth Town". Organised by The Building Exploratory.

Not just flour mills but calico, snuff, gunpowder, and more. The reason the river was so popular was that it's steep drop made for a fast stream good for turning mills. We only walked a short stretch of the overall river but covered the area I know best. Fascinating to learn where the various mills had been and some the the political and economic history that shaped the changing industrial landscape.

There are not many photos of this walk as we were too busy listening to our very well informed guide. You can read more and download a map and guide on the Wandle Valley Park Mapping the Mills page.

Wandle Trail GPX and KMZ for Walking

Wandle Trail (version 1.0). Wednesday 29-August-2018.

I have created a GPX file of the Wandle Trail [new window] for walkers to use with hand held GPS. There are versions out there but they are either for cyclists or behind a paywall or chargeable. Mine is free (hey, I'm retired I need a hobby). Feel free to use.

If you find any errors please let me know at: mark.mclellan@mmenterprises.co.uk.
Suggestions for improvement welcome.



Notes:

I started with the Google map (above) which I exported as a Google Map KMZ version then converted to GPX using GPS Visualizer, tweaked and converted back again.

There are several versions of the Wandle Trail out there so I have used the route from the Wandle Trail Map on the Wandle Valley Park site.

At several points the Wandle Valley Park map shows alternatives, I picked the one that best suits my recollections of walking the trail.

Links [mostly not in new window]:

Wandle Trail v01 Google map

Wandle-Trail-v1_0.gpx

Wandle-Trail-v1_0.kmz

More about the Wandle Trail [Wikipedia]

Bike trail versions from The Guardian [New window]

You're welcome!

Cleaning the Wandle February 2018

Poulter Park, Sutton, Surrey. Sunday 11-February-2018.

Looking at the weather forecast the dress code was thermal long johns and two pairs of thick walking socks.

Looking back over the calendar, Poulter park seems to be an annual event. The last time I attended a clean-up here was in March 2015 when we pulled around 200 tyres out. So this stretch should be in pretty good shape by now.

In fact the first hour I spent using the litter picker to clean out hundreds of wet-wipes that had snagged on some pilings. Still that was better than those who were working upstream and were picking out sanitary pads and condoms. All this courtesy of the Beddington sewage treatment plant upstream of where we were working. A good day to work with your lips tightly clamped.

It was good to see my old wheelbarrow that we donated when we down-sized in action. The lady in red said it was a smooth little runner.

After the lunch break my fingers were going numb. I went back in the water for half an hour but then decided that loss of sensation was nature's way to telling me to take an early bath so I did.

As always, the first thing I do back home is strip off and put all my clothing straight into the washing machine. Then a nice warm shower and a cup of tea. Good deed done for this month.

Cleaning the Wandle January 2018

Earlsfield, London. Sunday 14-January-2018.

Goodness me, over a year since my last Wandle clean up. Most of that was spending seven months in Italy then calendar clashes for the other dates: Royal Parks' Half Marathon, walking in the Lake District, cortisone injection in my foot, Dad's funeral, Valentine's Day in Dublin, Sunday lunch with old friends, the Brighton Marathon, Sunday lunch with new friends; 2017 was a busy year.

So it was good to get back in the water and pull out some rubbish. There is a bad fly-tip at the Trewint Street bridge which I had reported to the council and the Trust. I had hoped that would be included in our stretch for the day. Apparently not. Polly explained that the Trust are in conversation with Wandsworth Council trying to encourage them to take a more pro-active, preventive approach with this popular fly-tipping location. Otherwise they are relying on volunteers to clear up the mess several times a year.

We met in Ravensbury Terrace and, instead, cleared the section starting from the old factory buildings and working upstream (so you don't muddy your own water). The water was low and clear so that helped spotting the rubbish.

We got as far as the railway bridge by lunchtime so after lunch continued up to the fish weir at the Trewint Street bridge.

For me the highlight of the day was finding an eel. They like to hide in containers so you always check cans and old tyres or, in my case, a scaffolding pole. I was emptying it out to make it lighter to carry and out popped the eel. I was able to divert it onto the bank so others could see the slippery little sucker before it slid back into the river.

A good haul from what looked like, to me at least, a relatively clean stretch. No shopping trollies but many of the usual suspects - beer bottles and cans, plastic sheets and carrier bags, bits of car and bike, duvets and mattresses.

As always there some oddities in amongst the usual rubbish. The coconut shells confuse the newbies. Was there a circus? No, Hindus float them down the river as votive offerings so I'd be looking to the Shree Ghanapathy temple here.

Back home for a shower to warm up as the water was v. cold and I was losing sensation and grip in my right hand. Fortunately the thermal long johns and two pairs of walking socks kept the feet warm enough to avoid full on chilblains but the toes still tingled for some time.

That's the halo freshly buffed up ready for next month.

Cleaning the Wandle September 2016

South Wimbledon. Sunday 11-September-2016.

A second month of half day volunteering, this time I left at lunchtime because there were so many volunteers - 74 in fact! That must be a record. I was somewhat surplus to requirements.

First up the safety briefing from Polly. A bit like the aircraft safety demonstration, I've heard it enough times I could probably recite it verbatim, "please check as the nearest exit may be behind you."

In the morning I let the newbies go on ahead in the water and have the fun and excitement of finding stuff to haul out. I've been there, done that and it is good to let others have the thrill and possibly want to come back again.

One of the contributions to the large number of volunteers was a team effort from ZipVan office in Wimbledon. Well done guys for lending a hand.

Lunchtime we hit a hitch in the form of a wasps' nest that put a stop to our downstream progress. Theo Pike was an early casualty of the waspish impediment, here applying Wasp-Eze.

When Mary and I downsized we no longer had a garden nor a need for a wheelbarrow so I donated ours to the trust, nice to see it in action.

Unlike last month, the water level was lower and the flow more modest which made for a pleasant wade in the water.

The usual rubbish haul at lunchtime as I bailed out and left the rest to it.

And there's more: part of the clean-up was captured by filmmaker Jeremiah Quinn and featuring a voiceover by Theo Pike, chairman of the board of trustees. This short (3:44) film provide an great overview of the River Wandle and why I like it so.

A lovely day.

The Wandle Trust is an environmental charity dedicated to restoring and maintaining the health of the River Wandle and its catchment. They hold community river cleanups on the second Sunday of every month, up and down this unique urban chalkstream – pulling out everything from shopping trolleys to shotguns, and improving the environment for birds, fish, insects and local people. For more visit: http://www.wandletrust.org/.

Cleaning The Wandle August 2016

King George's Park. Wandsworth. Sunday 14-August-2016.

A half day of volunteering as we had friends round for Sunday lunch. Not that this was a problem as we have been in this stretch several times over the last few years and there wasn't so much rubbish. In fact this is an annual event: January 2012, April 2013, October 2014, I must have missed 2015, and now this year.

New yellow gloves. Hurrah! Some of the old ones were getting a bit tatty. And some new litter pickers.

In the water the level was really high despite recent good weather. The reason, apparently, is that most of the water comes not from the springs at the source of the river but Beddington Sewage Treatment Works. Thank goodness for EU urban waste water directive which means it's OK to go in the river..

Back in January 2012 we hauled out 14 shopping trolleys. Thanks to the annual visits there was a lot less hardware and more general litter; the lunchtime haul:

Given the good turnout and the level of rubbish I left at half time with a clear conscience.

The Wandle Trust is an environmental charity dedicated to restoring and maintaining the health of the River Wandle and its catchment. They hold community river cleanups on the second Sunday of every month, up and down this unique urban chalkstream – pulling out everything from shopping trolleys to shotguns, and improving the environment for birds, fish, insects and local people. For more visit: http://www.wandletrust.org/.

Cleaning the Wandle July 2016

Wimbledon. Sunday 10-July-2016

A lovely day to go paddling in the River Wandle. Very early on I found a duvet and a complete bed base. The latter was a bit of a bugger to get out as it was well buried in the silt. Lots of teamwork and heaving and grunting eventually got it out. Shortly after I found the mini-trampoline you can see behind it.

Unfortunately I managed to puncture my waders on the bed-springs and ended up with some very soggy jeans. Fortunately I have a spare repair patch kindly given to me by Polly the organiser.

There was the obligatory bicycle, but only one this time.

Meanwhile further downstream the others found a washing machine. At this point the concrete channel is a couple of metres high so more teamwork was required to grapple the beast up onto the bank.

Hurrah!

And this is why we do it. A couple of tons of rubbish cleaned out of the river.

It is a great way to spend a lovely Sunday. Most satisfying!

The Wandle Trust is an environmental charity dedicated to restoring and maintaining the health of the River Wandle and its catchment. They hold community river cleanups on the second Sunday of every month, up and down this unique urban chalkstream – pulling out everything from shopping trolleys to shotguns, and improving the environment for birds, fish, insects and local people. For more visit: http://www.wandletrust.org/.

Hogsmill Restoration Day 02

West Ewell, Surrey. Saturday 19-March-2016.

More restoration but this time on the site of a former weir. An earlier project by South East Rivers Trust had seen various weirs removed and this section had some "hard" edging to prevent erosion alongside a footpath. If you look in the first picture the dark line on the far right hand bank marks the previous water level when the weir was in place.

In order to soften the edges a series of large coir "sausages", pre-seeded with river plants, had been placed in the river earlier in the week. Our mission was to stabilise this arrangement. Who would have thought that there is sufficient demand that are specialist companies out there making these things, all pre-seeded with watery plants.

Half way down this stretch is what may look to you like a bit of old brick wall. In fact it is remnants of one of the gun-powder mills for which this river was renowned.

First step: the sausages were pulled out from the bank.

Then reseated back in the exact placement required.

Stakes positioned to hold the sausages in place, then driven in part way.

Finally wired in place and the stakes driven home to tighten the wires.

Finally a bit of river-bank gardening: transplanting reeds from the opposite bank to add vegetation to the coir rolls.

Another day of most satisfactory work.