Wayne’s worldview is well worth noting

RAMBLER Wayne Dixon’s walk from his home county of Lancashire around the coastline of Great Britain saw him reach Mid Argyll this week.

His mission is not only to conquer Britain’s coastal expanse – something he reckons fewer than 50 people may have achieved – in honour of his late father, with whom he took on many a challenging walk, but to show the environmental impact we are having on the countryside by cleaning up conscientiously as he goes.

Wayne described picking up bagfuls of rubbish on the coastal stretch of the A83 between Furnace and Lochgair alone. It is not unreasonable to expect him to find more where the coastline lies close to a road or to busy maritime traffic.

With a powerhouse tourist industry in Argyll and the Islands, and a sublime array of wildlife on show in the air, on land and out at sea, it is so important to consider the damaging impact chucking even one wrapper or bottle from your car or boat may have on the natural environment.

An Australian study released last year found that almost nine out of 10 of the world’s seabirds may have traces of plastic in their guts as a result of man-made waste products.

Wayne must feel like a man swimming against a ferocious tide, such is the extent of the litter washed up on some of our most beautiful coastal climes, but his statement should make us think about our own responsibility to protect this uniquely beautiful pocket of Britain’s 6,000-mile coastal stretch.