Swaledale Litterati

It's typical isn't it? I was going to do this piece about how untidy some walkers were. I don't mean they're a bit scruffy, I mean that they drop litter.

Anyway, so I was going to rattle on at length about how the most beautiful parts of the UK were being spoiled by piles of litter everywhere and how it was dangerous for wildlife and unsightly and all that kinda stuff.

I was expecting that readers of this very website, would be able to feel all smug in the fact that they themselves are very careful about what they do with their rubbish, taking it all home and not dropping it carelessly around the place.

I was happy in the knowledge that the readers would be able to go 'tsk tsk' and 'tut tut' and say how awful it all was how it wouldn't have happened in our day and I blame the lack of male role models in the modern family - and all that sort of stuff .

I went fully armed with a digital camera with a full memory and a flask of sweet coffee.

The results, as they say, were disappointing.

I couldn't find any litter, well, not much anyway.

Me and Mike the Ed (The Ed and I?) went all the way from Keld to the top of Rogan's Seat, down Gunnerside Gill and alongside the River Swale and all I could find was half a dozen used tissues (could be harmless, but could also be categorised as clinical waste, I suppose), a bit of cardboard, some orange peel and a green balloon in a bog with the words 'The Co-Operative - Good with food' written on it

Anyway, well done. Except, about the balloon. Tsk tsk and Tut tut. I blame the parents.

Co-Operative ballon on Rogan's Seat in The Yorkshire Dales

© Mike Knipe. Mike Knipe is an experienced outdoor enthusiast, walk leader and writer who has worked with Durham County Council and English Nature (aka Natural England).

Other articles by Mike Knipe on go4awalk.com include:

The Mike Knipe Column

The Art of Getting Lost . . .

How to start Peak Bagging . . .

How to sound like a walking expert . . . (writing as Gnasher the Dog) and

Is that a Mitt in your pocket - or are you just pleased to see me?

“What a lovely walk, I hope that you removed the items of rubbish that you came upon or at least made safe the "clinical waste"?! The Co-op in Richmond, the one down the dale, not the one down "south," was refurbised in July 2008 & this kind of balloon was evident at its reopening, maybe this one escaped?”

Kathleen Dawson

“I do a great deal of my walking in the Lincolnshire Wolds and Peak District, It is very difficult to educate the beginner Duke of Edinburgh participant not to drop litter when you see the amount that is left in those areas - easy acess leads to litter. Wasn't there an excercise some years ago where the Lake District was cleared of 40 tons of litter by walkers clearing every path in the area in 1 day? Maybe we should arrange more clearing walks like that?”

Malcolm Humphrey, Grimsby

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