Fistral beach clean

After seeing a hand drawn poster for a beach clean at Fistral I couldn't say no to clearing up some of the rubbish that had been left behind by the previous weeks storm.

Arriving at the beach at 1pm there was no body about but with rubber gloves and bin bags in hand we still keen to help out. As we stepped onto the beach at South Fistral we met another couple who were already litter picking so we said hello and started filling our bags with rubbish. 

As the heavens opened and the torrential rain started to soak through us we continued picking up rubbish washed ashore by the recent storms. Whilst head down picking up rubbish I suddenly noticed more and more people pulling bin bags out of pockets and joining in with the litter pick. There was even families with carrier bags picking litter, dogs dragging lumps of pipe across the beach and at least 30 people all complete strangers working together to make a dent in the massive amount of rubbish left on the beach. 

Some of the litter picked was understandable, bits of fishing rope washed ashore but a lot of the rubbish included drinks bottle lids, crisp packets and beer bottles. A lot of this rubbish hadn't been washed up from the sea but was buried in the sand dunes for many years and only uncovered now that the sea had eroded down the dunes. It made me so angry that it was people that have come to enjoy the beach by enjoying a beer on the beach that had left their beer bottles for somebody else to clear up. 

The beach clean was like a mythical army of people, one minute there was no body there the next an army of 30 people all sweeping their way from south Fistral to North Fistral litter picking all the way then once they reached North Fistral they all disappeared. The weather was horrendous and my coat is still dripping a nice pool of water on the floor but I feel proud to have been a part of a small group who got together in horrible weather to help clean a beach that clearly we all love so much. 

You don't need to be part of an organised clean to keep our beaches tidy to enjoy when the sun does come out, next time you go for a walk on our beautiful coastline pop a carrier bag in your pocket and if everyone picks up just a few items the beaches will return to how we love them the most.