IWA holds first clean-up through Milton Keynes since October 2019
THE Milton Keynes Branch of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) recently carried out its first canal clean-up event through Milton Keynes since October 2019.
It was cold and windy on the Thursday (April 7), making boat-handling difficult, but the Friday was warm and sunny.
The event was well attended by volunteers from IWA, Canal & River Trust and the Parks Trust which looks after the city’s parks and open spaces.
Over the two days, volunteers collected rubbish from the 10 miles of towpath through the city from Fenny Stratford to Wolverton. Others aboard a hopper hauled items from the water using grappling hooks and collected the rubbish gathered by the towpath volunteers. Aboard a pan, volunteers collected rubbish from the non-towpath side of the canal.
Usually a dredger is used to assist with retrieving heavy items from the water and compacting the load, but was not available this time, so two hoppers were used, one for each day’s haul.
A typical mix of rubbish was collected: two bikes, one high-chair, a pedal car, a freezer, a large TV aerial, and lots of pipe and scrap. The hopper crew also took time to haul out some fallen branches. The towpath haul was described as light considering the time that had elapsed since the last clean-up through the city.
A tea boat accompanied the convoy, providing refreshments and was hugely appreciated by the volunteers.
IWA Milton Keynes Branch chairman Tim Armstrong said: “Our thanks go to the Canal & River Trust, the Parks Trust and Wyvern Shipping for their support with equipment, motive power or resources, to their volunteers and to the branch members who took part.
“Everybody bought into the spirit of the event. All were kept occupied dealing with the rubbish and nobody complained of boredom! It’s just a pity that we have to clear up after the small minority who don’t appreciate the waterway but use it as a rubbish dump.”
Many passers- by applauded the volunteers’ efforts and a few enquired about IWA membership or joining the next clean-up. A total of 328.5 man hours was put in over the two days, in addition to the time spent organising the event.