A gentle run to Wanstead Flats for Kevin to help Wanstead Flat Pickers

Pickers and bags in hand we headed off towards the copse area of the flats to see what the visitors had left behind.

The usual mix of discarded bottles and cans with a liberal mix of pizza boxes,definitely seems that a good night has been had and someone left behind their pants!

One of the joys of litter picking on Wanstead Flats at this time of year is being accompanied by the bird song from the sky larks which nest at Wanstead Flats,sky larks are a ground nesting bird.

With bags full we headed back to our starting point, the pickers collected a total of 28 bags today.

After dropping of our bags and pickers we headed to Wanstead Park to have a look at the bluebells.

Next litter pick Sunday 29th May 11am

Kevin and I ran over to Wanstead Flats today which gave us the chance to check out which areas may need cleaning up today. An added bonus was spotting little clumps of bluebells.

Met by members of the Wanstead Pickers who had sturdy bags and pickers for us all. A couple of first timers who joined after spending lots of time on the Flats over lockdown and thought they should give something back.

The usual mix of empty beer bottles and cigarette ends but a couple of surprises..a kite and a single shoe......

The pickers meet on the final Sunday of the month and can be found on twitter @Flats_Pickers

Kevin and I then head to Wanstead Park to meet our soon to walk his dog

Kevin and I did the short run from home to Wanstead Flats. The flats was full of Sunday football teams and after several hours of rain it was a bit soggy under foot.

A warm greeting from the local residents who organise the regular litter picks in partnership with City of London corporation who are the governing authority in charge of the Flats.

Pickers and bags in hand we headed towards Alexandra Lake

Graham was on double mission duties today and after helping GG Redbridge he headed to the Wanstead to help out with the litter pick.

We sadly didn’t have to wait long to find our first pieces of rubbish on the banks of the lake and with so many birds we wanted to ensure we cleared as much as possible.

Cans,bottles crisps packets and cigarette ends are usual to find but I’m always disappointed to find discarded bread bags....it such a shame that people come to feed the birds but leave the bags.

Working on the waters edge can always be precarious so it’s a good job Kevin was keeping his wits about him as he came across a croc

The biggest find of this mission was a Santender bike hidden in the bushes.

5 bags of rubbish later we headed back to the collection point and left hoping the footballers took their rubbish with them.

Graham headed home and Kevin and I did the short run to Wanstead Park for a well earned coffee and to catch up with our son,his girlfriend and their dog Smurf

Today GG Newham joined the Wanstead Pickers group for a community effort to tidy up Wanstead Flats. For those of us who have been on some more 'guerilla' litter picking tasks recently, the professional equipment (proper litter pickers!) were a welcome addition and we worked our way steadily around the pond filling our bin bags and even getting a couple of thank yous from passers by as we went. Before long, combined with the efforts of local residents, several bin bags were filled and we headed our respective ways, with Hilary and Corey both finishing off their long runs - great effort all!

Kevin and I took a gentle run to Wanstead Flats and Kevin was aware very quickly it was warmer than he thought. On our run we saw Hilary cycle past us as we listened to the sky larks calling to each other. We arrived at the meeting point and Aaron who and also cycled to join us, we then we got a message from Graham was on his way. The litter pick is organised by local residents and City of London who look after the flats which are part of Epping Forest.

A large turn out of local residents also joined us,and a ranger from City Of London arrived with bags and litter pickers,after a short briefing off we went,Kevin and I had spotted some areas of rubbish on our way so the GG team headed to clear it up.

Just over and hour later we had 5 very full bags, Kevin even found a toilet seat,as we made our way back to the start point we could see fellow team mate Helen who was out on a mission of her own.

Bags and pickers dropped off back to the ranger and off home for our well deserved lunch.

We hopefully will have another team help out again next month

Wanstead Pickers

50 volunteers collected 90 bags of rubbish

Kevin and I were joined by Sally from GG Camden for this regular community mission at Wanstead Flats to help ‪Wanstead Flat Pickers.

After a quick briefing from the City of London park ranger we and our fellow pickers headed off in all directions across the flats.

We headed towards the pond,lots of birds and even got to see and couple of butterflies and lots of spiderwebs.

It didn't take long to fill our bags......the usual mix of bottles,bags and butts plus socks and a tea cup!

Good Luck to Sally and all you other awesome runners taking part in London 10K tomorrow.

Kevin and I treated ourselves to tea and cake at Lakehouse Tea Room