THE sun was shining, the tide was out and yellow jackets could be seen sweeping across Killyleagh Harbour… it was all go for the beach clean.
Last Saturday was the annual beach clean in Killyleagh which is part of the Beachwatch Big Weekend and supported by Tidy NI. The beach clean was once again well supported with 20 plus volunteers cleaning from Killyleagh Yacht Club round to the Manse.
“The last two years has been brilliant”, said Tracey Davies, treasurer of the Killyleagh Social Partnership. “The Beachwatch Big Weekend has coincided with the Magnus Barelegs Festvial, so we manage to achieve two things in one activity. Keeping our beach clean is important, especially when we have visitors here for the festival”.
The four teams of cleaners collected over 15 bags of rubbish from the beach which included the usual items such as bottles, cans, glass and wrapping from chocolate, crisps etc. but also recovered two car tyres, windscreen wipers, various lengths of rubber tubing, plastic sheeting and metal bars.
“It amazes me what we recover,” said Tony Davies, Chairman of the KSP. “While you can believe some of these items were accidently washed off boats, some of these were deliberately tipped into the Lough.
“The Lough is one of the most beautiful places in the world and yet people dump fast food containers, drinks in there without a second thought. We all have to put a stop to this if we are to continue to enjoy the Lough in all its glory.
“Saturday was a real family affair at the Beach Clean. A number of parents brought their children who really ‘got into it’. The youngest collectors were the Heron twins who were decked out in matching outfits with the big sister Emma. In fact Emma was having such a good time she was even thinking of missing the birthday party she was due to go to!
“We would like to thank Tidy NI who support the Beach Clean” said Tony. “Their program, supported by Coca Cola, means we have all the equipment we need to do a good job. We have been fortunate in the last two years that they have sent along one of their team and we’d like to thank Nicola Murray for all her hard work.
“Please help us keep the Killyleagh beach clean, either by joining the next Beach Clean, or more importantly not littering it in the first place.”
