The one with a record 11 motorbikes… and therefore collective backache!

We had a sneaking suspicion that Earlsfield’s notorious fly-tipping spot at the end of Trewint Street would be a crowd puller and we weren’t disappointed.  With the autumn sunshine shining down on Remembrance Sunday, 68 volunteers turned up to do battle with all the rubbish, and we needed every pair of hands!

Suitably attired in waders, volunteer and photographer Sally Ann Symis captured all the day’s activity and as pictures paint a thousand words…

After refreshments, tea, coffee and delicious sultana cake and shortbread biscuits produced by Sally and Jo, we worked our way upstream to the now infamous ‘motorbike pool’. 

An astonishing 11 mopeds, scooters and motorbikes were hauled up the bank by our volunteers with new volunteer DeNica getting well and truly stuck in, shouting instructions to heave in a loud, clear voice! 

We also found a go-kart in the pool, and one or two of our volunteers enjoyed being pushed along the trail to the dump site!

Trustee and local illustrator Jane Porter brought the newly painted ‘Wedding Wheelbarrow’, now emblazoned with the happy couple’s names on each side, and it wasn’t long before it was duly pressed into service.  Jane’s posters of the Wandle Alphabet and this year’s Christmas cards were on sale, with all proceeds going towards the work of the Wandle Trust.

By the time we were just pushing the last two motor scooters to the dump site, Terry from Wandsworth Council’s Waste Management Team arrived with his truck and we helped him load up.  Our thanks to him, and to Joanna and Michael who arranged collection of all the rubbish.

Thanks to all our volunteers: Abi, Amy, Andy B, Andy D, Andy P, Ann, Ann-Marie, Barry, Barbara, Bart, Caroline, Charles, Dave, Debbie, DeNica, Doug, Emer, Erica, Gearoid, Gideon, Helen, Henry, Hugh, Ilaria, Irene, Isabel, James, James Y, Jan, Jane, Jason, Jen, Jill, Jo H, Jo S, Joanna, John B, John N, John P, Kate, Kathleen, Keith, Ken, Leo, Mallahi, Marek, Mel, Michael, Mike, Nuria, Paul, Rachel, Robert, Ruby, Sally, Sally Ann, Sarah P, Sarah W,  Steve D, Steve K, Theo, Tim, Toby, Tom, Tony, Ursula, Wayne and William.

… who removed…

1 DVD player, 1 road sign, 1 barbecue, 1 table, 1 window pane, 1 wheelbarrow, 1 go kart, 1 kitchen sink, 1 postman’s trolley, 1 golf cart, 1 Wickes trolley, 2 gas boilers, 2 fire extinguishers, 2 toy ‘Tiggers’, 2 carpets, 2 safes, 2 road barriers, 2 pallets, 2 fences, 2 shopping trolleys, 3 Christmas trees, 3 bicycles, 5 pushchairs, 5 tyres, 6 traffic cones, 11 motorbikes,  and an assortment of household items including hairdryers, clothes, shoes, light bulbs, paint pots, brushes, tinsel and nappies.  There was also another 2 tonnes or so of unidentified junk.