A tiny section of Regents Canal was dragged yesterday – we think by Thames 21 – and it has turned up all sorts of garbage. Motorbikes, bicycles, shopping trolleys, traffic cones. All from a section barely 30 metres long from the Maiden Lane Bridge to the end of Kings Place.
Their catch was clearly more than they could carry home. But leaving it on the side of the canal was perhaps a bit shortsighted – a fair proportion may well end up back in the water unless removed quickly.
Hi there. Theo Thomas from Thames21 here. It was indeed us and a group of volunteers that removed the items from the canal on Friday (including an exploded safe, empty but for a few 2p coins). It was more than we could remove – incredible it all came from such a small area, you could have grappled with your eyes closed (although it would be a bit dangerous) and caught something. We removed a lot of floating litter as well – this was bagged up and taken to the offside. It does look like some canal monster has been sick along the back of the towpath. A Thames21 boat will be coming along tomorrow to move the rubbish (probably not the very heavy motorbike). Hopefully not too much will be thrown back in before then (if it is let me know). If it is we will be back as there is much much more to be taken out. If people are interested in joining in the next clean-up let me know. Kind regards, Theo. theo.thomas@thames21.org.uk