Rubbish

The Marshians have run out of stomping for awhile. It’s the bird nesting season.

They’re keen to keep active, and to make a difference.

The marsh is accessible on foot from the town centre. But the best route is in a mess as nobody looks after it. Well, looked after it. It’s not in such a mess any more. Now the Marshians have landed that’s very different.

This is the Coley Branch line. It’s an old railtrack that used to go from Southcote to Coley. It’s been out of use by trains for 40 years. People and wildlife have taken it over. It’s a lovely wooded path. But it’s in private hands and needs some love.

The Marshians spent a day cutting back some of the undergrowth and exposed all the rubbish. They spent another day clearing that. Now it’s lovely.

The council gave us bags, we filled them and they took them all away.

Then we tackled the banks of the Holy brook from Rose kiln lane to Laud close.

And we fixed that too

There is also a path along the Holy brook from the marshes (or to the marshes) behind the retail park. It’s behind the loading area. It’s screened by a 2 metre high metal fence.

We have our sights on that.

And this:

We’re just waiting for the water to go down.

Right in the town is the Holy Brook Nook which once was a sea of rubbish. It’s had a major cleanup but it’s at risk of becoming neglected again so we littered picked that.

It’s also a handy meeting point to walk to the marshes

There is another group too, Keep Reading Tidy. They’ve done a lot of it too, especially around the canal. I haven’t met them yet but I’ve seen their work. They’re awesome too.

It’s not all done yet but this has taken a month, although Keep Reading Tidy have been going longer than us. The area has been transformed and now the Marshians have their motivation this isn’t going to stop any time soon.