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To a slightly muddy but incredibly serene setting! …on Sunday morning. We’re talking about Ferry Marsh folks and the bi-annual Wivenhoe Society Riverbank Clean Up.

The clearing of the land is an April Fool’s blog post about building a health centre down there waiting to happen…

Truth, stranger than fiction etc.

Thankfully none of the recent nonsense regarding the missing health centre was present in the station car park shortly after 10am. Actually it was a little later than 10am as the Wombling Twins of Wivenhoe with the wellies were running a little late.

Whoops.

The Trail itself was certainly in need of some black bin bag action. The six months since the last Wiv Soc Clean Up have washed up all sorts of crap that doesn’t really sit very well with the mud – except for the settee upstream towards the Hythe. There *always* seems to be a settee during these sessions.

A brisk walk down to Ferry Marsh were our instructions. Even brisker were the endless cyclists enjoying the trail during the fag end of the glorious autumnal weather. The Trail is to be treasured, whether on two wheels, two legs or anything else that doesn’t involve petrol.

Many hands make light work is always the mantra for these occasions. Once again Wiv Soc was rewarded with fifty plus pickers, playing the wildlife version of Supermarket Sweep.

The anticipation as to what you might find never lives up to the reality. The chase is always better than the kill. A particularly large hosepipe [Madam...] was put on full show just off the Ferry Marsh path.

Wot a WHOPPER etc.

Wot a pair of mucky pups.

Some syringes were also surprisingly uncovered, but otherwise it was the usual crap of empty cans, crisp packets soggy cardboard. A favourite find was a Coca Cola can that had received a makeover from the muddy banks of the Colne. The red Coke colouring had become a Pepsi blue.

Guerilla marketing in Wivenhoe.

Well I never.

It was great to see the support of other local groups joining in with the Wiv Soc folk to help out. The local Scouts and Cubs had a strong presence, as did the fine WTC workmen, ever helpful with their buggies going backwards and forwards. Petrol Heads are cool when they can help transport a Colne saturated settee from halfway between here and the Hythe.

The beauty of these Wiv Soc mornings is that you get to view the landscape from a vantage point that you wouldn’t normally get to experience. Wading around in the mud would normally get you a few strange looks. Not so when you passport to freedom is a CBC black bin bag (actually they were grey…)

But maybe the true beauty is the Trail itself after the Wiv Soc many hands have made light work. Cycling back and forth over the coming few weeks without the crap of the empty cans, crisp packets and soggy cardboard reminds you of how special this environment can be.

Tide and time means that Colchester and Clacton (ish) will still get to litter our lovely landscape. It would be perhaps just too much of a perfect bubble to exist in when you weren’t presented with the demands of nature, and the collision caused by a manmade environment.

But for now the muddy banks of the Colne are clean – something of a misnomer. Which brings us back to a health centre that has a far from healthy access area.

Clean your act up, etc.