INTERVIEW: Dave Bedford on litter picking wins
On Regent's Canal the wildlife creation and litter removal done by the Lower Regents Coalition is famous. Here's how it's shaping the area for the better. Inspiring stuff!
Dave Bedford from Lower Regents Coalition is in his unofficial winter office, the Ragged School Museum café just by Johnson Lock. Over the phone he promises that I’ll find him easily in this area because “everyone knows him”, and he’s right.
In his canal green-shaded winter hat and jumper I spot him quickly. The next hour flies past as Dave generously shares tips and contacts to help get a better litter picking system going further up the Regent’s Canal.
As an extra bonus he also treats me to celeriac soup and tea – both perfect warmer-uppers for a bitter January day – I’m now the biggest fan of the cooking at the Ragged School Café underneath the Ragged School museum (in a building opened by Dr Barnardo in 1877 for poor East Enders which has recently been revamped).
Reconnecting nature & people
The Lower Regents Coalition was launched in 2013 after Dave noticed how messy and unloved the final stretch of Regent’s Canal, near Mile End, looked. At first Dave and his partner litter picked randomly, but their ambition changed after Thames 21 noticed their impact (and keenness). Soon Dave was trained in how to lead waterway events. But it wasn’t until 900m of the canal near the Ragged School Museum and Ben Johnson Lock was drained in 2016 – revealing quantites of plastic waste – that their volunteer base jumped from 100 to 900 over a few days.
The coalition are old hands at getting people involved in their local waterway now.
To read a review of a morning litterpicking with
the Lower Regents Coalition see here.
Wildlife likes it here
Last year (2023) Lower Regents Coalition held 44 events with 969 volunteer engagements, totalling 4,256 hours. Their volunteers collected 998 bags of rubbish and numerous bulky items, with the approximate weight of 7,500 kgs. They also planted another 80 m2 of wildflower meadows.” It’s an incredible achievement, and even on this grey day there’s evidence that these things took place – on the water around Silver Fish Bay, with its blossoming apple tree and Green Flag award (first won in 2016), there are six busy coots, two Canada geese and a swan pair. A passer-by is feeding the birds which has attracted about 20 herring gulls and terns. No wonder wildlife likes it here – most of the hard concrete edges of the canal now host floating ecosystems, which once planted up offer an amazing wildlife boost both as safe spaces and a natural larder.
Birds are particularly drawn to this bit of the canal because planted up floating ecosystems soon have “a lot happening underneath – all sorts of invertebrates and fish thrive here,” says Dave. (See video below from Biomatrix - Living Water Cities: A vision).
“If you put in floating ecosystems, I can guarantee wildlife will increase by 500%, but we’ve not got proof as we didn’t do a baseline survey when we started. Instead, it’s anecdotal for birds and invertebrates,” says Dave gesturing towards the canal. “We have a family of herons permanently based here. Last spring between the bridge and the lock I counted 30 nesting birds and the swans nest regularly at Limehouse and Solebay Street,” he adds.
Heroic litter picking
Despite people knowing how bad plastic is for the environment, and the benefits of a cleaner canal, Lower Regents Coalition still needs to organise a lot of litter picking. From October to April, sessions are on the last Sunday of the month, and from April to September every Wednesday evening plus regular summer corporate litter picks. Working with Moo Canoes, based in Limehouse Basin and at Hackney Wick, the volunteers in canoes and on paddleboards have become expert at removing litter from the canal without disturbing nesting birds. What they collect is then removed by Tower Hamlets who promise that what can be recycled is recycled, though Dave doesn’t seem convinced that this is happening. “But,” he says with the air of pragmatic man, “I just want to get the rubbish out and make it nicer for wildlife. We picked up nearly 8,000 bags of litter which won’t go into the Thames and out to sea.”
And that makes all the difference. In fact this short stretch of Regent’s Canal around Mile End has earned a coveted Green Flag. What’s so lovely is that Dave Bedford and the Lower Regents Coalition are very willing to share their expertise – and that’s how I met him. Here’s to making more of the Regent’s Canal litter-free and far more wildlife friendly.
Dave’s tips for fixing floating ecosystems – installation & care
Buy the frames from Biomatrix (a Scottish based business).
Check that the canal walls are in good condition before fixing anything to them. The Canal & River Trust can help you with this.
10m of floating ecosystem takes approx one day to install.
Thread wire through two O-hooks (from the wall to the floating ecosystem) and then anchor on the bottom of the canal giving the platform enough flexibility to cope with any change in water levels.
Do your planting on another day. This is a good opportunity for kids to get involved.
Planters need to be kept litter free and to be weeded of invasive species or to stop dominating plants (eg, reeds out-shading yellow flag iris).
Dave’s litter pick tips
Tape or cushion pipe lagging around litter picker handles so that if they are dropped in the water, they don’t sink.
Add a hoop to the litter bags to make it easier to feed wet rubbish into them.
Do you use canals?
To paddleboard on a canal you need a licence, which is included in British Canoeing membership. I was savvy, and bought my BC membership for £47 a year as it comes with a lot of professional perks, but then realised I also wanted to support the people who maintain the canal. To do that you need to also join the Canal & Riverside Trust (CRT). CRT has just had its budget cut by the government so needs plenty of support. It also has many volunteer opportunities by the water to help maintain 2,000 miles of canals and rivers across England and Wales.
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/
Join a Lower Regents Coalition litter pick
Check the sites below, but basically it’s the last Sunday of the month November-April and then weekly during the warmer months. if it wasn’t for these volunteer litter picking sessions one of the UK’s most iconic parks and waterway would look really rubbish.
www.facebook.com/lowerregentscoalition
www.instagram.com/lowerregentscoalition/
www.youtube.com/channel/UCTQw_qOY0zBkqpkb40FU82A
Over to you
Which organisations do you know that are making a difference to the waterways and towpaths? Do you recommend working with them? Is there enough joined up thinking when it comes to tackling the UK’s rubbish problem? Answers welcome in the comments. Thank you for reading. And big thanks to Dave for all his efforts cleaning up and planting up the final sectuos of canal/canalised rivers that flow into the Thames and ultimately the sea.