Birmingham Street Clean Up

It was another very hot litter pick on Sunday 14th August 2022 which our team of Dave & Dawn, Dave W, Rachael, Martin, Helen, Roger and new recruit David Edwards managed very well in the conditions.

We collected 20 black bags and traffic bollard, plus a large for sale sign and keep fit equipment. There was also a drug den we found in the trees on the right hand side of the first car park near the entrance to the Council Refuse Site – we will report this to the police.

A number of broken bottles smashed against a wall near the Viaduct. There was a lot glass about which was difficult to pick up until a man walking a dog came along and went to his home and fetched a dustpan and brush which made the job much easier, the before and after photos below show the results of our efforts.

PS Next litter pick – this was the last pick of our Summer schedule so we’ll let you know when the scheduling meeting for our Autumn/Winter plans plus celebrating all the brilliant work of the team throughout the summer will be (likely date is Sun 11th Sept at the Robin Hood). Any suggests for litter picks are very welcome.   

Addison Road Brierley Hill

9 of the team turned up to clear the canal around this area and plenty of junk was found sadly….

Hot Hot Hot

Another tough litter pick on Sunday 17th July, both because of the hot weather and the difficulty in getting at the litter that was on a steep slope in the wood behind Brook Crescent.

Dawn and Helen did a pick just round the corner in Sensall Rd because of the volume of rubbish there, which is well illustrated in the photos below – apologies to Helen for admitting her from the photo.

Altogether a brilliant effort by the team of Dave & Dawn, Dave W, Tony, Rachael, Doug, Helen, Ivor and Roger. Due to the difficulty of this pick Doug again brought his mountain climbing ropes, which were essential for us to lower the rubbish to a level where we could them remove them for collection by Dudley MBC Street Cleansing. The photos below show the before and after our clear-up and the process of lowing the rubbish on a pulley system set-up by Doug. 

After we’d finished collecting all the rubbish from the hillside we then removed a large trampoline from the vegetation at the bottom of the hill. In total from Brook Crescent we collected 20 large black bags of rubbish, a trampoline, a load of metal, wood, cans and bottles, a car seat, 6 van wheels (which looked pretty new), a metal cabinet etc etc.

In Sensall Road Dawn & Helen’s rubbish included 16 black bags, a mattress, a number of plastic boxes, bits of metal, a seat and some cabinets. 

On Wednesday 20th July, Rachael is off to London for the final of this year’s competition of the LGC National Awards (Street Cleansing) at the Grosvenor Park Lane Hotel, as a guest of the Dudley MBC Street Cleansing Team. We wish them them success in this very prestigious competition and hope they bring the gong back to Dudley.

Tidy Stourbridge Help out Stourbridge In Bloom

Tidy Stourbridge did some gardening/litter picking for Stourbridge in Bloom with the judging for Britain in Bloom coming on Friday.  

This work was around the old St Johns Church near the Fire Station on the Stourbridge Ring Road. We found it difficult to clear-out all the weeds because we hadn’t got the best tools with us to dig them out and it was one of the hottest days we’ve ever had a pick. 

The photos below show the area before and after our gardening work plus all the litter we collected including 8 shopping trolleys.

This was a brilliant effort by our team of 8 including Dave & Dawn, Dave W, Tony, Rachael, Doug, John and Roger. Special mention here for Dave G who worked heroically clearing out most of the weeds.

Extra Date

David Harcourt has been in touch to ask if we could do a litter pick and some gardening on Sunday around the old St John’s Church on Sunday in readiness for the Stourbridge in Bloom judging on Friday 15th July.

So we are meeting on Sunday 10th July at 10am to do some litter picking/gardening for Stourbridge in Bloom, meeting in the car park next to the Fire Station on the Ring Road.

This carpark is just before the turn in to the Fire Station. If you are using the What 3 Words app…. ///palace.dining.goals

CANCELLATION

Due to roadworks in the area we intended to clear up on Sunday 3rd July we have had to make the hard decision to cancel the event and reschedule for the winter months.

We return on Sunday July 17th at 10am in Brook Crescent Wollescote weather permitting.

Commonwealth Games Clean Up

On Saturday 25th June a number of teams of volunteer litter pickers helped the Dudley Street Cleansing team clean-up litter around Priory Park and Coronation Gardens in preparation for the cyclists in the Commonwealth Games coming to Dudley.

Our team from Tidy Stourbridge were assigned Prior Road and around Coronation Gardens which wasn’t too bad until we got to the corner of Priory Road and Priory Street almost opposite the Council House. 

On this corner on the other side of the road to the Council House we found one of the worst spots for rubbish that we’d seen for some time and we’ve been together as a group since June 2010.

From the photos below you’ll get some idea of the mess we faced and unfortunately we go stuck into cleaning it before we thought about taking these photos. Some of this rubbish was behind 4 large metal industrial type wheelie bins and a yellow wheelIe bin, but was clearly visible from the footpath next to them. A large amount of this refuse was in the planted area around the tree which looked like it had been there for years. This included too many drink cans and bottles to count, a number of big broken silver backed mirrors, large plastic shelving (see photo below), metal supports etc etc. 

Lower Valley Road Return

Good to be back on Sunday after our last pick was cancelled on 5th June due to heavy rain. It was another tough pick with a lot of rubbish hidden in the undergrowth but once more our exceptional TS team rose to the occasion.

This time it was Lower Valley Road in Hawbush where we spent some time about 2 years ago clearing a load of rubbish and unfortunately it was just as bad as before.

We collected 20 bags of rubbish, 3 tyres, 2 large carpets, a load of metal bits and pieces, a large blue tub, kiddies car seat, 2 traffic cones, part of a sofa and plastic tubing. Plus a £10 note found by Dawn which will go into our funds  

Our team of 9 were Dave and Dawn, Dave W, Rachael, Jan & Chris, Doug, Jan and dog Henry and Roger. Also 7 year old Edie, resident of Lower Valley Road, helped us after she had permission from her Mother.

Special thanks to Rachael, Dave & Dawn and Doug who were a great help in getting the kit to and from Hawbush.  

Next Litter Picks

Sat 25th June –  a special with Dudley MBC starting at 9.30am at Priory Park, Dudley (please see map below) in connection with the Commonwealth Games

Sun 3^rd July 10am Bredon Rd/Penfields Rd, Penfields DY8 4LA

Event Cancellation

Due to a very poor weather forecast tomorrow’s event (Sunday 5th June 2022) has been cancelled and will be planned for a future date.

The next event will now be the 19^th June 10am Lower Valley, Hawbush DY5 3NP

Junction Road, Stourbridge

An excellent mornings work at the Junction Road playing fields in what proved to be quite a difficult litter pick. This was because most of the litter was buried in dense under growth after a recent vigorous growing period. In general the area looked quite good until we got into the bushes surrounding the field and you can see what we revealed below.

The team of 10 of us did a brilliant job plus Jan’s dog Henry and collected 16 bags of rubbish, a large lorry tyre, fridge/freezer, metal sprung mattress, a few pieces of wood and a CD player. 

Our 10 were Dave and Dawn, Dave W, Rachael, Ivor, Jan & Chris, Jan, Paul and Roger. Apologies too Ivor who missed the photo call. 

Next Litter Pick 5^th June Engine Lane, Lye DY9 7AQ

PS In the last report a fortnight ago the LGC National Awards were mentioned and we’re now delighted to report that Rachael has been invited to the final of this competition on the evening of Wednesday 20^th July, at the Grosvenor Park Lane Hotel in London with some members of the Dudley MBC Street Cleansing Team.