The one with the Global Day of Doing…

101010: just when we thought there couldn’t be any more national and international initiatives to link with our work on the Wandle, along came the best bit of dateline binary we’ve seen in years, and with it a Global Day of Doing. 

(We didn’t change our regular cleanup schedule, so can only assume everyone else spotted our Calendar and altered theirs…)

For some of us this location was a nostalgic trip back in time, to the site of one of our very first Wandle cleanups: the end of the Beddington effluent channel where it chutes down the side of a concrete car park on the edge of the Willow Lane Industrial Estate.

Since our last visit the rubbish had built up again, and it took plenty of teamwork on the ropes to get it moving…

Our younger helpers were just as keen to get stuck in:

At around 12.30 the sound of a skidding scooter announced the arrival of Project Dirt’s Mark and Nick: two men on a mission to film and photograph as many 10:10 projects as possible…

… and our pile of rubbish soon gave up the goods:

Coffee time and the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness produced apple and rhubarb cakes from Sally and Jo’s kitchens, before Helen’s pink shirt led us back into that deep fast flowing water…

… while Ailis organised our efforts on the wall above:

Moving upstream, more and more design-icon car parts emerged from the silt, and it slowly became clear: somebody had buried a Beetle in the river…

… adding considerably to the 4 tonnes of rubbish our friends from Sutton Council would collect for us later, meticulously listed by Alice:

27 tyres, at least 26 large pieces of metal, 26 pieces of asbestos, 20 bags of rubbish, 5 carpets, 5 window frames, 5 bicycles, 4 motorbikes, 4 safes, 4 traffic cones, 4 plastic pipes, 3 windscreens, 3 wheel clamps, 3 push chairs, 2 boilers, 2 road barriers, 2 road lamps, 2 road signs, 2 car batteries, 2 lawnmowers, 2 tins of cooking oil, 1 garden roller, 1 microwave, 1 knife, 1 sledgehammer, 1 ironing board, 1 washing basket, 1 sink, 1 hi-fi speaker, 1 shopping trolley (Sainsburys), 1 computer, 1 watering can, 1 radiator, 1 hole punch, 1 floor lamp, 1 kid’s scooter, 1 wheelbarrow, 1 BBQ, 1 grill pan, 1 hose pipe, 1 washbasin, 1 bed frame, 1 night storage heater, 1 engine block, 1 car bonnet, 1 steering wheel, 1 heavy duty industrial pallet and 1 bath…

… which Andy claimed for his own on top of the rubbish pile, while the rest of us preferred the pub!

Thanks to all our volunteers: Aaron, Abi, Adrian, Ailis, Alice, Andy B, Andy P, Barry, Carol, David F, David S, Erica, Gideon, Helen, Isha, Jacopo, James, Jan, Jane, Jez, Jo H, Jo S, John N, John P, Jonathan, Joolz, Jordan, Katie, Ken, Leon, Leonard, Leonie, Lizzie, Omar, Mahelet, Michelle, Mike, Neil, Nicola, Roger, Sally, Samir, Sarah P, Sarah W, Steve, Susan, Susanne, Theo, Tim, Toby, Valerie and Wayne