rudloescene.co.uk - Litter

Fly tip in White Ennox Lane - May 2013

To find out what has been happening on the litter front in Rudloe and environs since the 70s, go to the Rudloe Mob CPRE Litteraction webpage here: The Rudloe Mob. Note also that as this page (this page, not the Rudloe Mob page) is becoming excessively large (too much litter to report), from June 2018 onwards, all litter articles will be in separate sub-pages e.g. Rudloe 'Pick' - Jun 2018

6th May 2018 - the turnouts are improving month by month, nineteen on today's litter pick around Rudloe. As usual, Dave Wright organised the event, liaised with Wiltshire Council regarding equipment, directed operations and picked up filled bags. A couple of 'teams' were despatched to Leafy Lane, the A4 and Rudloe Firs (one heading west along the A4, the other east); another group tackled Boxfields Road and White Ennox Lane and yet another the Bradford Road to the south. The Bradford Road towards Corsham, Skynet Drive and Park Lane were the targets for two other groups. Contact dave.wright533@tiscali.co.uk

Meanwhile, the Box group has been busy - some photos at the foot of this article show the result of their latest, April, litter pick. Contact here is marilynannetye@gmail.com

Rudloe litter pickers (and one junior member) awaiting orders at the junction of Leafy Lane and Boxfields Road

What about the workers - Robin and Chris take an early break

Howard searching the verge on the Bradford Road towards Thorneypits

Howard taking his life in his hands on the Bradford Road Grand Prix circuit close to Thorneypits

A diversion into the Bradford Road wood (oak, ash and beech) to see the bluebells

Howard hard at work in White Ennox Lane

Meeting up with another group in White Ennox Lane (skylarks singing overhead)

The combined groups heading up White Ennox Lane by the site of the original Box Highlands School (lovely spring growth on the beech)

Viki has found something; this is the spot where, in the 90s, every Sunday morning (dog walking), I would find a Tesco's plastic bag tied incredibly tightly containing a bottle of vodka and a bottle of South African white wine (both empty of course)

This month's unexpected find in the Bradford Road lay-by; Howard thought it was rather large, I thought it was quite small ...

And talking of members, here's some of the company at the end of the 'pick'

Now here are the promised pictures from the last (April) Box litter pick. The pics in the gallery are 'ironic'.

The complete collection in Bargates; that's a damned good effort and a substantial bit of plastic

25th March 2018 - and the best turnout yet for today's litter pick. Numbers were increased by the McDonalds (Chippenham) franchisee and his family who came equipped with their own hi-viz vests and litter pickers. The pre-pick group photo is awaited but below are pictures of our 'group' (Howard, Tony, yours truly and A.N. Other) in Bradford Road. Other groups took on Leafy Lane and the A4 (including Rudloe Firs), Westwells Road and Park Lane and finally Boxfields Road and White Ennox Lane.

Howard, Tony and A.N. Other in Bradford Road

Howard and Tony brave the Sunday morning traffic in Bradford Road

Howard and Tony at the entrance to Skynet Drive with an unfortunate backdrop of Bellway's 'V-sign' for its 88-home greenfield development

On the Bradford Road verge, this beautiful pheasant escaped the guns only to become another victim of the motor vehicle

This smoker must have realised the error of his/her ways only after spending £9 (or so) on this pack

Howard and Tony in the Bradford Road towards Pickwick

21st February 2018 - forthcoming litter picks will take place on the first Sunday of each month at Rudloe and on the 3rd Sunday in Box. So, just to be clear (blimey, I'm starting to sound like a Tory politician), the dates for Rudloe will be (the first being part of a national event):

4 Mar 2018 (Great British Spring Clean) CANCELLED - AWAITING ARRIVAL OF SPRING

25 Mar 2018 - this is the resurrected Great British Spring Clean at Rudloe
1 Apr 2018 - cancelled - replaced by the 25 Mar pick
6 May 2018
3 Jun 2018
1 Jul 2018
5 Aug 2018
2 Sep 2018
7 Oct 2018
4 Nov 2018
2 Dec 2018

and for Box, the dates will be:

3 Mar 2018 (part of the GBSC) CANCELLED - AWAITING ARRIVAL OF SPRING

18 Mar 2018 - the resurrected Great British Spring Clean in Box

15 Apr 2018

20 May 2018

17 June 2018

15 Jul 2018

19 Aug 2018

16 Sep 2018

21 Oct 2018

18 Nov 2018

16 Dec 2018

The meeting point and time for the Rudloe picks will be the junction of Leafy Lane and Boxfields Road at 10 o'clock; point of contact is Dave Wright whose email is dave.wright533@tiscali.co.uk. For Box the meeting point and time will be the green at the junction of Bargates and London Road (opposite the surgery) also at 10 o'clock; point of contact is Marilyn Tye whose email is marilynannetye@gmail.com.

The photo below shows the grand pile of rubbish collected at the last Box litter pick on 11th February 2018.

29th January 2018 - the scheduled litter pick took place yesterday in damp conditions. Ten intrepid souls ventured along Bradford Road, Skynet Drive, Park Lane, Boxfields Road, White Ennox Lane and Leafy Lane but didn't end up at the Quarryman's (shame). 'We' have made a tentative decision to schedule litter picks on the first Sunday of each month starting in March (so Sunday 4th March will be the first).

18th January 2018 - next scheduled litter pick will be on Sunday 28th January. Meet at the junction of Leafy Lane and Boxfields Road at 10 o'clock. Dave Wright is, as usual, organising the event and will provide sacks, litter pickers, gloves, hi-viz tabards and enthusiasm. Contact Dave at dave.wright533@tiscali.co.uk.

The image above shows the Bradford Road dry stone wall at Toghill Crescent. The Bradford Road itself and, indeed, the route into Corsham including the A4 was strewn with rubbish. This route, at least as far as the entrance to Pickwick, had been cleared of litter just last Saturday (see 13th January article below).

So why was the route (and just about every other local road) again awash with rubbish? Ironically, the reason was that the black boxes containing paper, cans and bottles for recycling had been put out on Wednesday night (17th January). Then along came the forecast storm and in its strong westerley winds; boxes were upturned, in spite of being weighted down, and their contents blown hither and thither. Ironic that the best of intentions turned the area into a giant rubbish tip. A solution may be to provide secure clips for the box lids.

13th January 2018 - litter pick in Bradford Road

The 'regular' litter pick will take place on Sunday 28th January meeting at the junction of Leafy Lane and Boxfields Road at 10 o'clock. For further information, contact Dave Wright (dave.wright533@tiscali.co.uk).

However 'we' could not wait until 28th January, Bradford Road was a bloody disgrace (excuse my French) so we forsook the opportunity to watch Forest Green Rovers at Swindon and instead spent the afternoon litter picking. Two bins-full, three bin-bags and two carrier bags later and Bradford Road was clear (until litter dropping starts again tonight!).

When we did get to see Forest Green (Nailsworth) in late October (picture below), the away fans' (Morecambe) chanting included "You know what you are, you know what you are, vegan bastards, you know what you are". Hmmm, not quite as refined as "Come on Bath".

Take a last look at the Bradford Road trees (second picture below) as they will be gone by the end of the year (Bellway planning application 17/12270/REM). There is/are a multitude of articles on the subject of this development on rudloescene under 'News, Rudloe' News, Rudloe and 'News Archive' News Archive for example see this article under the latter: 6th October 2013 - Hannick's proposed Bradford Road development.

3rd December 2017 and ten intrepid souls set out on the litter pick around the highways and byways of Rudloe. No full catheter bags or legs of pork this week - just run of the mill litter, except ... the armchair with radiator at the junction of Bradford Road and Skynet Drive - see photo below.

Armchair and radiator at the junction of Bradford Road and Skynet Drive on 3rd December 2017

Harry Worth (aka Derek) and Chris with part of the Bradford Road collection

"Over ere son, on me 'ed" - Derek and Chris at Rubbish Central at the junction of Leafy Lane and Boxfields Road

The complete collection

Thanks to Dave Wright for organising, coordinating, transporting and for the Beer fish (work that one out).

16th November 2017 - the next litter collection will be on Sunday 3rd December 2017 meeting at, the usual spot, the junction of Leafy Lane and Boxfields Road at 10 o'clock. Costa's detritus certainly doesn't "cause happiness" to those of us who have to pick up the ejections from passing cars - this one in Bradford Road..

And, as usual, the litter pick is being organised and coordinated by Dave Wright. You can contact Dave at dave.wright533@tiscali.co.uk.

17th September 2017 - next litter collection on Sunday week, 1st October 2017, meeting at the usual spot, the junction of Leafy Lane and Boxfields Road, at 10 o'clock. Be the first to pick up the type of garbage shown below:

This 'fast food' packaging, found on the Bradford Road verge at Rudloe, is garbage in more than one sense. Beware of slogans ... "Taste the Magic" typifies the distortions prevalent in the food industry. This chicken was undoubtedly 'raised' in atrocious conditions in a factory farm and pumped full of growth hormone and antibiotics followed by water to plump it up. More abomination than magic.

13th August 2017 - nine intrepid souls took part in the Rudloe environs litter pick which encompassed Leafy Lane, Rudloe Firs, Boxfields Road, White Ennox lane, Bradford Road, Skynet Drive and Park Lane. Organisation was by Dave Wright with support from Wiltshire Council communities department.

The Boxfields Road team meet up with the Bradford Road team in White Ennox Lane

You do find some weird stuff on these litter picks. One such strange find was a 'fresh' leg of pork in the Bradford Road some time ago. From time to time one finds 'soiled' Pampers which have clearly been chucked out of a car. The CPRE Rudloe Mob webpage (here The Rudloe Mob) recounts other strange litter-picking tales. Today's gruesome find saw two bags of rubbish (food packaging, drinks cartons etc) tied up with a bag of urine from a catheter or other bodily 'drain' - see the grisly 'before' and 'after pictures below.

Gruesome find in the Bradford Road

The gruesome find after decoupling

Now back to more cheery matters ... it was a lovely day! Further views of the litter pickers at work and at rest are to be found in the pictures below. The first picture shows Dave Wright in a quiet Bradford Road. Later two boy racers came down at some speed (probably about 75 mph) when the following car decided to overtake reaching an estimated 90 mph. A friend of mine was fined and had points put on his licence for doing 34 mph in a 30 mph limit!

Dave Wright in the Bradford Road

100 miles to Hyde Park Corner - the boy racer would have done that in just over an hour

The loneliness of the long-distance litter picker - Tony Simpson in White Ennox Lane

Some of the team in White Ennox Lane

Post-pick debrief in Boxfields Road

8th August 2017 - litter collection this coming Sunday, 13th August. Meet at 10 o'clock at the junction of Leafy Lane and Boxfields Road (pictured below for those in any doubt).

As with the earlier collections, this is being organised by Dave Wright (davewright533@tiscali.co.uk). And as before, litter pickers, gloves and litter bags will be provided. Let's hope we have some equally interesting encounters as occurred in March ... yours truly and Howard were about to embark on a mountain of polystyrene that had been shed on the A4 between Beech Road and Leafy Lane when a lady, out running with her dog, came across to us and the following conversation ensued ...

Lady: "Are you going to pick up all this polystyrene?"

Me: "Yes"

Lady: "I'd like to thank you"

Howard (who was some distance away) to me: "What did that lady say?"

Me: "I'd like to thank you"

Howard: "Oh, I thought she said 'I'd like to spank you'"

2nd March 2017 - Rudloe litter collection as part of the Great British Spring Clean event

Dave Wright (davewright533@tiscali.co.uk) is organising the Rudloe (including Box Hill, the A4, Bradford Road, Leafy Lane and environs) effort for this national event.

Meet at Rudloe Fiveways (the junction of Bradford Road, Westwells Road and Leafy Lane) on Saturday 4th March 2017 at 10 o'clock.

Litter-pickers, gloves and litter bags will be provided. All that is required is enthusiasm and energy.

As the litter pick will include the verges of fast roads with no footpaths (sections of the A4 and Bradford Road) great care must be taken.

Ironically or perhaps understandably, the event is sponsored by some of the globalised companies most responsible for the litter (McDonald's, Coca-Cola etc).

Great British Spring Clean webpages

4th March 2017 - about fifteen intrepid souls sallied forth around the streets of Rudloe and managed to collect a not insignificant amount of litter (see photo). Dave Wright masterminded an operation which included collection of bags from various locations and assembly in Boxfields Road to await collection by Wiltshire Council.

In view of the 'success' of this operation, Dave has suggested another venture on 25th March with the same meeting location and time (Rudloe Fiveways, 1000 hours) concentrating on Rudloe Firs, Skynet Drive and Park Lane before retiring to the Quarrymans for lunch.

Alternatively, we could go straight to the Quarrymans for breakfast and forget the litter pick (ho ho).

22nd January 2017 - New Year litter pick in Bradford Road

I suppose I had better start putting litter articles in the right place (you may find quite a few in the 'News' or 'Localities' sections).

As indicated in the introductory paragraph (commencing 'To find out ...') above, all matters 'litter' in the Rudloe environs may be found at the CPRE LitterAction 'Rudloe Mob' webpage here: The Rudloe Mob*

Whilst the LitterAction webpage has been somewhat neglected lately*, the 'total number of bags' is just about kept up-to-date. Today's bags have been added to the total.

* Note that the CPRE LitterAction system was replaced by the CleanUpUK website in around 2022. This has meant that the previous statistics have been 'lost'.

The photo shows three supermarket-type bags at the Rudloe bus stop, two bags having already been stuffed into the litter bin. Then the adventure started ... a further twelve bags-worth were picked up along the Bradford Road - these were left in situ hoping that the Council will pick them up (I sent them an email).

As usual, there were 'interesting' finds. In the brambles on the verge behind Springfield Close were about thirty wine bottles and eight vodka bottles. These had clearly been chucked over the railings, over quite some period of time, by someone walking along the path (this has been going on for years by the way but at least this is preferable to the scores of bags of dog crap that used to be found here - perhaps the dog owner has become a drinker).

Funny old game, litter picking. One would have thought that, over the years, someone (at least) would have stopped and said "well done old boy etc etc" but this never happens (not that litter picking is done with this in mind). Most people avert their gaze and/or avoid eye contact. You can almost hear their inner thoughts ... "bloody hell, this guy is picking up litter, he must be a weirdo".

More of today's photos may be found in the following gallery.

Fly tip (see title image) in White Ennox Lane in May 2013. The tip, as you may see, contains a considerable amount of evidence with regard to who may heve been responsible. However, much hot air is given out with regard to prosecuting fly-tippers and as with just about every other case in the country, nothing came of it.

Litter, in the form of dumped cars, in and around Pockeridge Drive at the turn of the century