Author Archives: Neil Frost

It was good for our OWLs to meet again, post-Lockdown, and to be prepared to take part in a litterpick despite the conditions not being the most favourable. Any excuse to have a fun time in the woods, eh?

This was not just any OWL Christmas Special Litterpick, this was a Birthday Special Litterpick for two of our group!

As usual we set off in our various directions, aiming to clear up as much litter as we could find. Although the recent bad weather might potentially have reduced the amount of cruising in the woods, maybe Lockdown had increased the motivation to get out and have fun!

It’s surprising who you find loitering (or anti-littering) in the woods!

The hot spots delivered their usual ‘treasure’ – condoms, condom foils, lube sachets, wipes and tissues. As well as the odd empty bottle of poppers, latex glove and kamagra sachet. Many of the paths were pretty free from litter

A substantial amount of litterpicking having been done it was time for our Festive Refreshments (who can resist a warm mince pie and a glass of mulled wine – all prepared under the most careful conditions). And it was time to toast our two Birthday Boys! Many Happy Returns (and not just to the woods!).

Then off for another round of litterpicking. Good to see that some of the rubbish sacks we’ve left in the hotspots are being so well used.

What a great way to spend some time in the woods!

And finally the sealing of the bags and display at the roadside – with, again, several people thanking us for what we are doing. Thirty-three sacks of rubbish in total; twenty of general rubbish and thirteen of recyclables.

It almost being Christmas we aren’t sure if Santa would approve of us filling so many sacks. Maybe, like so many other users of the woods, he’d like his sack emptied!

All credit to our OWLs for all of their work throughout the year. In 2020 the OWLs have collected over 350 sacks of litter from the woods.

For the rest of the winter the OWLs would usually hibernate. But given the amount of litter that we continue to find, we’ll be carrying on with our ‘First Tuesday of The Month’ litterpicks throughout 2021. All are welcome. Click here for the dates of OWL Litterpicks in 2021

 (Please note, we respect everyone’s right to anonymity and only show pics of those willing to have them posted. No inferences should be drawn from anyone’s participation in an OWL litterpicking session)

Like other guys who use the woods, we wanted to get one in before Lockdown. That ‘one’ being another OWL litterpick.

For good reasons some of our regulars couldn’t make it, but those who did were among the finest, and made a brilliant job of the task in hand – to rid the woods of litter, much of it offensive to other legitimate users of the woods.

Safety briefing over we headed off on our usual routes, clearing litter and emptying black sacks as we went on our merry way. We know the woods well (why wouldn’t we – many of us enjoy the facilities they have to offer!). There’s unlikely to be a ‘hot spot’ (for ‘hot spot’ read ‘shagging place’) we don’t know of and don’t visit.

We are used to finding a range of unusual or ‘wouldn’t expect to be there’ items. Today’s were more ‘wish they hadn’t been left there like that’ items. In an area many use to have their fun, lots of discarded syringes. Fair enough if that’s your thing. But leaving them used and uncapped, potentially able to stab animals and, worse still, horny guys? That’s not on.

After a good session filling our sacks (well, Christmas is on the way) it was time to bring them back to the car park and have a break and some refreshments. Socially-distanced, of course.

Then back to the task in hand and more visits to more hot spots. It’s surprising who you find in them.

One for the ecologists – this bramble in flower at this time of year? If only it was a sign that Spring was soon on its way!

More litter-picking, high and low.

And then the final return to the car park, stapling of the bags, and displaying of them at the roadside ready for them to be collected by the rubbish cart. Today’s haul – 29 sacks of assorted rubbish.

And just as we were finishing, nice to be complimented on our amazing work by some passers-by.

Our next, December, litterpick was to have been on 2^nd December – the last day of Lockdown. As long as any restrictions in place at the time don’t prevent it our Christmas Special (and Birthday Special for two of our regulars!) will be on Friday, 4^th December. All are welcome.

 (Please note, we respect everyone’s right to anonymity and only show pics of those willing to have them posted. No inferences should be drawn from anyone’s participation in an OWL litterpicking session)

The weather might have been forecast as gloomy and wet, but our brilliant volunteers weren’t going to be put off by that. Ten skilled guys turned up to what was going to be another highly productive litterpicking session.

With such a good number we had groups heading out in various directions both to pick up the litter on the paths and in the bushes, and also to empty the black sacks we leave in the many ‘hot spots’.

Well, when you are litterpicking it seems that a wheelie bin could be handy!

That gorse is growing up tall again!

Giving plenty of opportunities for playtime. Presumably the only thing missing from here is the Rock n Roll?!

Pleasingly much of the area didn’t have too much litter. Even the area around the Fuck Tree.

Time for refreshments and already our sacks were getting pretty full.

Then more of the same, with some going in deep and strong (to the woods, of course). But wherever we are, there’s always some litter to be found.

Finally back to base and the stapling and display of the bags ready for collection. Another superb effort, and all credit to each and every one of our volunteers. Fifty two sacks of litter left for collection beside the road. Four more for collection elsewhere. Ten more collected over the last two weeks by two of our volunteers working independently and twelve more collected by another volunteer not long after our last group litterpick. THAT’S SEVENTY EIGHT SACKS OF LITTER!

What a great achievement!

Our next OWL litterpick is on Tuesday, 3^rd November.

 (Please note, we respect everyone’s right to anonymity and only show pics of those willing to have them posted. No inferences should be drawn from anyone’s participation in an OWL litterpicking session)

Cruising round the woods, as some of us do, and finding that despite a recent litterpick there was a lot of litter around, some of the OWLs decided to do an extra litterpick in addition to those published on the website.

And five super Owl supporters turned up. With the Covid-specific briefing, and then the health and safety briefing, over we were off on our well-established routes.

Plenty to do in the area where the Epping Forest folk have scrub-bashed one of the entrances. Not sure why they had to do that?!. (“Opening up our entrances”?!!!! Try saying it in a Kenneth Williams voice! Ooohh matron!). The effect of the scrub-bashing has been to expose litter that has been in the undergrowth for years. And shred much of it up.

We always find some unusual items. Maybe someone was into spooning? Or baking – from the look of it it could have cooked something and we don’t mean cakes!

Some good work done in this area – not a hint of litter anywhere (at the moment this pic was taken!).

Yes, we ask people not to throw their rubbish on the ground, but this is a bit extreme! (you might need to look around!)

A bit of hooting and hollering and we managed to get our volunteers back to base for refreshments (all inline with good-practice regarding Covid, including plenty of hand-sanitising)

Then on for more, moving further afield and finding the usual litter in the usual places.

We’re not really sure why, when there’s a black rubbish sack very close-by, guys still throw their sexual debris (used condoms, condom foils, lube sachets and wipes) on the ground beside it. But hey, if you get turned on by having sex while surrounded by, and sometimes treading on, other people’s discarded crap then who are we to judge?!

Plenty to do on The Mound, and of course at this time of year there is no shortage of bottles and cans. At least they get recycled!

Finally back to the car park to staple the bags so that their contents don’t escape. And then to form our traditional display at the road side. Selfridge’s window-dressers would b proud of us (ok, well maybe not!)

Another impressive (or depressing?) total number of sacks considering that it was only 10 days ago that we cleared up the same area. Seventeen sacks of general rubbish and thirteen of recyclables.

Thanks guys. You make a difference.

Our next OWL litterpick is on Tuesday, 6^th October.

 (Please note, we respect everyone’s right to anonymity and only show pics of those willing to have them posted. No inferences should be drawn from anyone’s participation in an OWL litterpicking session)

The OWLs give a hoot (about offensive and unnecessary litter), and we were back to work today on our third litterpick since lockdown restrictions were eased.

It’s good to be recognised and feedback from our August litterpick was that we had excelled ourselves and what we had done had made a huge difference. Nice!!

Another fine day. Another fine group of volunteers. And after the Covid-19 briefing, the rest of the Health and Safety briefing, and a healthy bit of banter, we set off in our various directions.

A key task was replacing some of the black sacks we have installed in many of the ‘hot spots’. We reckon it’s not unreasonable to expect guys, when their fun is over, to put their litter in the black sack. It’s probably easier than throwing it on the ground!

Funny what we find as we make our way through the woods emptying the rubbish sacks. Someone must have been proud that they managed to split these two cock rings (or were they just too small in the first place?!)

There’s a ‘hot spot’ we call The Gymn. So called because it has a range of facilities to allow a number of positions to be used, and from the amount of litter there it gets well-used for work-outs!

Not sure what someone used their savings for, but the money bags were empty (or was it their own savings….?).

With the sack-count increasing, due to the amount of work that was being done, it was time to take the sacks of rubbish collected so far back to the car park and enjoy a break for refreshments and a bit of a catch-up. And receive some thanks from passers-by.

Then back for more of the same with our OWLs heading off again in all directions. Strange as it might seem we like it when we’ve emptied a rubbish sack and it’s there ready for the next hot spot users to use!

Some of our group went in deep! It’s amazing, judging from the number of used condom foils, how much of the woods is used by guys to have sex. (we’re certainly not complaining).

And it’s clear that lots of guys like to have a good play in the woods – but Lego?! That’s one strange fetish isn’t it?!

Finally, time to return to the car park, staple the tops of the rubbish sacks, and put them on display at the side of the road, ready for collection by our colleagues from the City of London Corporation (which manages Epping Forest of which Snaresbrook Woods are part). And when they arrived, very nice of them to congratulate us on our efforts which they say makes a real difference.

Another impressive haul – 50 sacks of litter in total, 24 of recycling and 26 general litter (including a lot of sexual debris).

We hope our super volunteers will be back next month – along with others who would like to join in and are always welcome.

Our next OWL litterpick is on Tuesday, 6^th October.

 (Please note, we respect everyone’s right to anonymity and only show pics of those willing to have them posted. No inferences should be drawn from anyone’s participation in an OWL litterpicking session)