We headed out with our Living Seas Trainees Dylan and Olli, our Volunteer Placement student, Tori, and Clare Mc Morrow who generously offered to volunteer her time. At Killough we met up with members of Lecale Conservation and members of the local community, who had generously offered their time to conduct the beach clean. We had liaised with Lucinda Scott in Newry Mourne & Down District Council and they had supplied us with rubbish bags and agreed to collect the results of our efforts.

With 12 willing litter pickers and litter-picker-uppers in hands we stormed the beach. The advance troops picked up the big stuff while those at the back cleaned up the little bits of plastic and junk and rooted out the hard-to-reach litter. Much of what was collected was plastic waste - the scourge of the oceans - including plastic bottles, containers, fishing buoys, plastic bags and plenty of unidentified smaller bits. There was junk of varying sorts including bike parts and bits of electrical equipment.

It was clear that some areas of the shore had been used as a dumping ground for many years as a mix of garden and building rubble, as well as domestic litter was buried in layers at the edge of the beach. In recent years this area - the Rope Walk - has been cleaned up and a new path laid, hopefully our efforts will encourage people to keep this area clear of litter and value it as a local amenity.

Once we had completed cleaning the strand area, a few of us headed further up the coast to another area that has been used as a dumping ground and where, just a few days previously, some genius had dumped their bedroom furniture onto the shore and set it alight. We recovered the partially burned beds, headboard and mattresses, as well as an array of other junk. It boggles the mind how ignorant people can be and how they see little wrong in using the shoreline as their personal dump. Its especially hard to fathom as all the dumped rubbish can be disposed of for free at a council facility rather than polluting our shores, for pretty much the same amount of effort.

We can only hope that some of those responsible for this dumping witnessed our efforts yesterday and felt suitably ashamed.

The tally for the day was 26 bags of rubbish, two mattresses, two beds, a headboard and a pile of assorted junk. Well done to all who made the effort!

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