The local group has been running regular beach cleans and litter surveys at Half Moon Bay for over ten years, but recently we have decided to take a wider view, and run some ‘guerilla’ beach cleans, to compare beaches more widely around the area, and see if there are areas that might benefit more from a regular clean.

Last night (July 21st) many of us took advantage of the good weather to cycle to the Venus and Child statue on Morecambe prom (clost to the golf course), to take a look at the beach there. The shore is composed of a steep bank of cobbles and shingle, the lower reaches of which provides a footing for common seaweeds like Ulva (sea lettuce) and Fucus, going to flat sand and mud further from the shore, with patches of Spartina or cord grass.

The beach clean focussed on the shingle slope, around the high water mark, where litter is most likely to be left as the tide goes out. Over a one hundred meter section we collected 1kg of litter – which is really pretty good, and indicates that this stretch of the coast (from Half Moon Bay to the Golf Course) is in good shape – at least as far as litter is concerned!

Barry Kaye, 22nd July 2021