Altcar Training Camp Beach Clean 2021

AFTER special permission was granted to allow the volunteers to access to clean the shoreline, between Hightown and Formby Point. This is a dangerous area, with quicksand, rapidly incoming tides, with strong currents and the deep hidden gully, cut by the River Alt. The danger is also increased, as visitors to this area need to take note of the signs and danger warnings in place, due to it being part of a live military firing range. Because of all these dangers, this part of the coastline is not often cleaned, so we agreed to pop over to Altcar Army Training Camp, to join up with the Hightown Beach Clean Group, on 29 July 2021, to see the volunteers doing this beach clean. The group was joined by members of the Formby and Freshfield Beach Litter Angels, who met up with them halfway. Also joining the clean-up were members of the Burscough Litter Pickers, along with representatives from The New Brighteners. All of them doing an amazing job of clearing as much rubbish as they could from this stretch of the Sefton Coastline. In total 28 people took part, including some young children who really worked as hard, if not harder than the adults.

The organizer Tommy Norbury told us that:- "We cleared a large amount of rubbish, with the help of the Army, who came down to collect the items from us, throughout the morning. The weather was very damp, but that did not put a large number of people turning up to help. Throughout the cleanup, plastic was the biggest issue, from large plastic items to the small bottle tops and plastic pieces. The group also had a reminder about the damage helium balloons have on the environment if they are let off, as we discovered over 60 of them, along with the strings. During our beachcombing, we also discovered quite a few sanitation items, along with medical items that had been discarded and washed up on the beach. The strange finds included 6 hard hats and coconuts along with 2 very large gill nets, car wheels, and a large dead porpoise... I would like to say a very big thank you to all who took part and also to the Arnold Clark Community Fund for their support."

For more information about the event, please pop on to the Group's Facebook Page where you can discover more about what they do and also find links to the other Liverpool City Region Beach Cleaning Groups.