What had been intended as a Club #GoPaddling event turned into a solo trip by Club Chair Steve Rayner, who set out on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal at 7.15am on Sat 25 May to see how far he could get in a day, while collecting litter on route. Here’s what he achieved:
Beginning in Brecon…
First tub of trash deposited in the bins at Brynich – mostly collected from the bank of the canal alongside the road in Brecon…
Swift progress to Talybont-on-Usk: some trash was too large to pick-up…
Time for a tea-break at Talybont, then on through Ashford Tunnel…
Brief wheeled portages around Llangynidr’s five locks…
A late lunch at Llangattock, arriving at Gilwern Bridge 104 after a total 30km…
Where my second tub of trash was deposited – great to see so little litter all the way from Brecon to Gilwern but very satisfying to play even a small part on the fight against plastic…
I used a Scoolr 32” folding litter-picking tool, purchased from Amazon, which worked quite well (the jaws opened wide and gripped firmly, but could have done with a longer reach), my paddling ‘trug’ with a black-bag insert for collecting trash and my trusty Wenonah Prospector 16 (not the fastest on flat water, but easy to manoeuvre and plenty of space for litter-picking duty).