River Cleanup Pontypridd May 2022

We want to say a big thank you to our members who joined us for the river clean last weekend.  We had fourteen members on the river Taff in Pontypridd setting off just below the bridge connecting Llys Cadwyn and Ynysangharad War Memorial Park.

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Starting out by collecting litter along the bank and wading in shallow water to remove larger obstacles like scaffolding poles and shopping trolleys, we eventually split into several groups. The majority of club members collected from the water, following the river to the confluence of the Taff and the Rhondda, whilst a small group carried on alongside the riverbank through the park.

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Unfortunately, we came across so much rubbish that the river team had to ferry back up river to the get-in several times to drop of bags and debris before carrying on downriver. Once both teams were reunited below the river confluence, we set about collecting more litter on both sides of the riverbank, clearing a long standing obstacle in the centre of the flow that kept accumulating new flotsam and jetsam with every flood and finally moving all our bounty to higher ground so the council would be able to collect it.

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We're very grateful to our volunteers, to Stu3 Ltd. for sponsoring us on the day, to Canoe Wales for providing us with the litter picking equipment (even though we're a bit early for the Big Paddle Cleanup) and to Pontypridd Town Council for providing council waste bags and coordinating refuse pick-up.