Caithness beach cleaners head over the Ord on a mission – 30 creels and a huge pile of fenders removed at Helmsdale
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Caithness Beach Cleans eco group took a trip over the Ord to Sutherland for some well-needed coastal cleaning.
Dorcas Sinclair, founder of the group Caithness Beach Cleans, said she was shocked when travelling through the area between Helmsdale and Portgower on a recent trip to Inverness.
“The plastic thrown up in storms was clearly visible from the roadside,” said Dorcas.
“On the way back from Inverness we stopped to have a look and it was really appalling how bad it was.
“Not long after, I put out the call for help. We did this under the umbrella of Surfers Against Sewage. They helped by providing bags, gloves and a first aid kit – which was not needed I am glad to say.”
Pentland Canoe Club got in touch with her to say that 10 of its members would be happy to join in and go further along the shore in their canoes to clean up.
“As it happened we also had five young canoeists join us, which was great. People from Helmsdale and the surrounding area also joined in.
“In all, there were 27 of us. I would like to say thank you to everyone who came and helped make such a difference to that beach. We met at the Helmsdale Sports and Social Club, who kindly made their premises available for parking and comfort breaks, and took the quad bike down the track opposite.
“We worked our way along the beach leaving piles in bags and ton bags or if it was big, left beside the pile for the quad and sledge to take back to the three bins that had been provided by Andy Shaw [Waste Operations North]. I had asked for three bins thinking that would be enough but in fact six bins would not have been enough.”
Dorcas added that the volunteers worked on the beach from 10am until 2pm when they stopped for tea at Timespan. People who were able to carry on after that stayed and helped as there were still a lot of piles to be collected and weighed.
“[There were] 115 bags weighed in all, including the lightest ton bag.
“That was interesting to see. The physicist among the group explained how to do that. One person on each loop, all lifting at the same time to the same height and one corner was on scales, this was done four times, once at each corner and the weights added together to get the total weight. Very clever.
“The other 4-ton bags were too heavy to lift and had to be estimated. There were about 30 creels and a huge pile of fenders and other bags around the bins which were full to bursting.
“It was a fantastic turnout. One young lady who had previously organised a beach clean in the area, although it was the other side of Helmsdale, was delighted as her degree show is coming up and she was collecting sea waste for one of her art projects. She took a trailer load away.”
Dorcas said that the day turned out longer than expected. Having set out at 8.20am she didn’t get back home until 7.30pm.
“[It was] a long day but so worth it. The beach is so much cleaner now but we still have more to do. There are still some piles of waste to be collected and more of the beach to be cleaned.”
The total collected by the volunteers was over 1.5 tons.
More info is available on the Caithness Beach Cleans Facebook page which can be found at: www.facebook.com/groups/2561533860586878
New volunteers are always welcome to join the group and help rid the coastline of dangerous plastic debris.
