Author Archives: Neil Frost

The last OWL litterpick of 2017 – our Final Festive Event of The Year!

Cold? Yes, to start with!     Dry? Yes, very.   Muddy? No!      Good litterpicking weather? Yes!

Our willing volunteers got started and were soon finding some interesting items. Whatever were two canisters of this doing at Snaresbrook?

Someone must have been hoping to find ‘chicken’!

Equipped and dressed for the Festive Season, Elf and SafeT (well it is Panto time!) were soon on the case.

Well-dressed for the part!

Maybe because there is less action in the woods, definitely because we know that more and more guys are taking their litter away with them, there was less to collect than usual. Any disappointment that Santa’s sack wouldn’t be as full as usual was compensated for by the excellent views that should have been enjoyed by the cruisers – but there were very few on this fine morning.

A view of the Fuck Tree that many won’t have seen!

Strange icicles

Someone had skillful hands!

The refreshments were especially welcome and ample as usual – including mulled wine that had a kick to it that kept out the cold – and delicious mince pies from a quality source!

Then onwards for more litterpicking. And more interesting views with the sun low in the sky and the woods looking lonely.

Moody!

Between them our volunteers managed to clean up all of the woods to the south of Snaresbrook Road, including The Mound. Good to see that the black bags we have left around are being well-used.

Elf – or was he goblin’?!

And we even ventured to pastures new to the north of the road (sorry e18prof – we hope you don’t mind us working on your patch!).

Another good day’s work. 10 sacks of litter collected.

The remainder of Santa’s sacks – appropriately decorated

Some of the rubbish had been collected and taken away part-way through the session

The OWLs take a break now until April 2018. After all, who wants to be in the woods when it’s cold, wet, muddy and dark?! (in truth, quite a few of us do, but probably not looking for litter and sexual debris!)

Check out our ‘Dates of Events’ page for litterpicks in 2018. They are the second Tuesday of each month. All are welcome and it’s not unknown for some who take part to have a Happy Ending while strolling round afterwards!

Huge thanks to all of the OWLs who have taken part in litterpicks in 2017 – you have made a big difference, reduced to zero any complaints being made about the sexual debris that some find offensive, and therefore lessened the likelihood of ‘enforcement’ by extra forest patrols.

And further thanks to the increasing number of considerate guys who are now taking their litter away or putting it in the bins or strategically-placed rubbish sacks.

Happy Christmas and Happy Cruising!

 (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)

With our crack team ready for action this was bound to be an efficient and effective litterpicking session where we would move throughout the cruising area, picking up as much litter as we could find, and in particular concentrating on the hotspots to remove the inevitable condoms, condom foils, lube sachets, wipes etc.

But early on in our travels we found an empty wallet. We couldn’t help thinking that this might have been the result of some pickpocketing. Generally cruising at Snaresbrook is a safe experience – but it’s always wise to be careful and leave valuables safely locked away in the car.

If it’s yours and you want it back let us know

It was good to see that more and more guys are taking their litter away – there was, again, much less than we would usually expect. Thanks guys! Some hotspots are obviously used by those who don’t care about litter and ‘The Gym’ (featured in several previous reports) is one. There’s a lot of activity there.

before

after

With each of our skilled volunteers taking on different areas we could make fast progress. We sometimes find some unusual objects during our litterpicking…..     

                       Just put your lips round this and blow!

The rate at which our volunteers work is always impressive and it wasn’t long before we were ready for our refreshment break. We are always happy to welcome anyone cruising in the woods, but we got no takers. Pity!

Refreshments – always welcome

In the hope that rather than chucking their sexual debris on the ground guys will put it in a rubbish sack we’ve left sacks in a few places. And we routinely empty those sacks. Some have been very well used. Others have become rubbish themselves!

The idea is to put rubbish in the sack, not make the sack the rubbish.

The litterpickers we use are ideal in most circumstances – but as we all know, having an extra long one has its benefits.

“I could do with a long one over here, guys” was possibly misinterpreted by some!

We worked on, ensuring that we collected all the rubbish we could see – whether that was sexual debris, or paper, bottles, cans, etc..

All good things must come to an end (well, for this litterpick at least) and eventually our sacks were displayed for all to see. A total of 17 sacks – an impressive load!

Well done guys!!

We’d planned that this would be our last litterpick of the year, but due to popular demand we’ve arranged an extra ‘Christmas’ litterpick for 12^th December. Christmas hats, mulled wine and mince pies – what’s not to like?!

 (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)

With two of our group members starting litterpicking early we knew this was going to be another excellent session.

Again we made good progress and again we were aware of the fact that, despite there being no reduction of activity in the woods, more and more guys are being considerate and taking their litter away with then to put in the bins.

But that wasn’t just our point of view. We were pleased to chat to one of the guys employed by the City of London Corporation to pick up litter, and who has been doing the job for years. He gave us independent confirmation that there is increasingly less sexual debris being left around. We can’t say fairer than that!

If there’s litter around we are going to find it.

During the time OWLs have been litterpicking in the woods we’ve found some strange items. We’ve been wondering if someone, maybe new to cruising for guys, got the message wrong when he was told to try Grindr!

It’s a grinding disc, not a Grindr dick!

We made even faster progress when we were joined by another of our regular litterpickers. The fact that there was less sexual debris meant that we could range further and wider than we sometimes do. Intelligence we had received led us to two ‘hotspots’ we hadn’t been to before. And significant work was done in the bushes across the main road.

With so much energy being expended the break for some refreshments is always welcome.

There’s always lots to go round

Then back to the task in hand, with further opportunities to visit places we don’t always get to.

Before

After

All good things must come to an end and we reckoned it was time to head back to base and check how much rubbish we’d collected.

Another good haul

Placed beside the road ready to be picked up, evidence of another good morning’s work. An impressive twenty six sacks! Thanks, guys.

(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)

As we met we knew we were going to be one man down (well let’s face it, when a man goes down it’s not always a bad thing!!!) but that was balanced up by someone turning up who we hadn’t expected – result!

Another group of experienced litterpickers, so we knew we were going to be a good team. With some ensuring that they cleaned up particular areas they knew of (we didn’t ask how!) it was more of a random wander than a strategic assault. That was no bad thing as we ranged wide through the woods. Yet again we observed that the amounts if sexual debris that we usually collect just wasn’t there. Thanks to those who are being considerate.

That’s not to say that everyone is being considerate, of course. We still had plenty to do. But what’s not to like?! A friendly group of guys enjoying each other’s company; fresh air and exercise; doing something useful both for the cruisers who enjoy the area and the many other legitimate users of the area. And the knowledge that the less sexual debris there is to cause offence to others the less likelihood there is that there will be complaints and therefore the less likelihood that there will be enhanced ‘enforcement’ by the use of extra patrols by Forest Rangers or even police.

Somehow, however separated we’ve become as we have pursued our various chosen routes, we manage to get back to the car park to have our refreshments together.

Always plenty of choice. Always plenty of refills!

Onwards after refreshments, and with the knowledge that as we were finishing, one of our stalwart volunteers who had another commitment while the litterpick was on would nevertheless be arriving to start doing his bit.

A very efficient litterpick where we ranged far and wide with impressive results.

With so much ‘seed’ being spread in the woods we guess it’s inevitable that some will sprout!

Ok, we know it’s fungi but use your imagination!

A lot of work was done. A lot of litter was collected. Our final huge load – an impressive 27 sacks.

We are always pleased to get a large load

(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)