Congratulations to Alan and Gwen who were married on Sunday 22 April.  Mr and Mrs McGill have been regular Wandle Trust volunteers and met at a cleanup 18 months ago.  To remind them of how they met, they were presented with a framed poem written by Erica, surrounded by cleanup photos. 

Here’s the special poem that Erica wrote for the happy couple:

 Wandle Wedding

Congratulations to you both
On this your wedding day
But some of you who know the bride
May not yet know the way

They met; it was one second Sunday
November 2005
When Gwen joined other eco folk
Who help a river thrive

The Wandle is that waterway
We care so much about
So Gill presented her friend Gwen
And said she’d help us out

In baseball hat and rubber gloves
And waders to her chest
Gwen got stuck in to cleaning up
A role that she does best

She found a carpet, sopping wet,
And hauled it to the bank
She picked up bottles, soggy clothes
A bike discarded, dank

She dragged out tyres and old tin cans
She grappled with a brolly
The only thing she’d yet to find
You’ve guessed…a shopping trolley!

At last below the water line
This winter’s day al fresco
She saw the murky legend that
Said property of “Tesco”

When weary with the work she’d done
The Earl of Spencer beckoned
With a well deservèd pint to drink
She sensed her heartbeat quickened

For beside her at the table round
A handsome young man sat
And when the two were introduced
Gwen realised that was that!

That brings us to this wedding day
They start their married life
Alan “Wandle” bridegroom
And Gwen his lovely wife.

Who’d have thought that chilly day
With weather turning bitter
That Gwen would meet her own true love
Amongst the piles of litter!

For those of you who think a stream
Is where some fish you’ll catch
Think about this Wandle tale
Of Gwen, who met her match!