Two van loads of rubbish plucked from Windermere lake bed (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Two van loads of rubbish plucked from Windermere lake bed

11:01am Friday 26th October 2012 in News

TWO van loads of rubbish including a motorcycle battery, odd shoes and a clay pipe have been plucked from the bottom of Windermere. The major clean-up exercise was part of the British Sub-Aqua Club’s (BSAC) Underwater Litterpick 2012 campaign and a team of 12 divers took to the waters of the lake at Waterhead, near Ambleside. Their aim was to remove submerged debris which presents a hazard to anyone diving or swimming and threatens the ecology of the popular beauty spot. And in a novel “green” twist to the initiative, a group of local schoolchildren are planning to fashion some of items collected into figures that should really be in the lake, such as fish and swans, and sell them off for charity. BSAC’s underwater litterpicks are taking place nationwide until the end of October and for each one divers are completing a data form to help record the volume and type of litter they have found plaguing the area where they regularly dive or snorkel. These forms are then submitted to BSAC headquarters in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, where the information will be collated. The research will be shared with the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) which is staging its own Beachwatch campaign where volunteers come together to clean up Britain’s beaches. The Windermere litterpick, which took place on Thursday morning (Oct 25), is a joint effort between Kendal & Lakes Sub-Aqua Club (SAC) and explorer and broadcaster Paul Rose who lives overlooking the lake. He explained it was decided to hold the event that day to coincide with a Fell Care Day being run by the Friends of the Lake District, which will see a small army of volunteers doing footpath repairs, drain clearance, coppicing and woodland work on the hills surrounding the lake.