Litter Picking

Oxleas Wood

Saturday, 7th March 2026

Half the happy band of 16 litter pickers - just managed to get a photo!

Despite the grey, drizzly weather on Saturday, we had another good turnout for our March Litter Picking Session – a happy band of 16 people. This month’s pick returned to the area in and around Oxleas Café and car park and, as usual, we collected a large amount of litter. 

There were 33 bags of general rubbish, plus the usual additions, such as oddments of clothing, two shoes (not a pair), pieces of old carpet and various car accessories. Within the dark, cherry laurel wood, we picked up a lot of broken glass, which is, of course, not only dangerous for our pickers and the rubbish collectors, but also for our wildlife, pets and the general public who enjoy walking in the woodlands.

While we are used to having to take a great deal of care during our searches, nobody could ever be prepared for one incident that occurred when volunteers encountered three bright orange buckets from a well-known DIY chain. These were not hidden away amid the woodlands but were there in the car park itself and it seemed a simple task to clear them to the waste collection area.

What was not evident at first, when it was suggested someone throw them over to the group who were nearest the bins, was that two of the buckets had been used as toilets - how disgusting! Luckily, our volunteers escaped the flying bodily waste.  However, much time was then spent trying to cover up the offending mess in the car park. What a grim situation for our wonderful volunteers to experience and, hopefully, it is not something we will encounter again.  The moral is: Beware when collecting buckets and containers!

Finally, we found a beautiful tree covered with blossom to act as the background for our group photo, though we only managed to capture half the group.  Spring is returning to the woodlands!