Volunteers Wade Into Ellesmere Mere, Clear 'Buckets' of Litter — SkimNews
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- Lee Fraser, Ellesmere's park ranger, led volunteers into The Mere to collect litter including bricks, pottery and mobile phones after the UK's hottest, driest summer on record dropped water levels low enough to wade in.
- The team collected 'five big bucket loads' of debris spanning roughly half the length of the town's promenade, according to Fraser.
- Fraser said standing in the water proved far more effective than the boat-based approach tried last year, where bricks became invisible to volunteers even when someone shouted they were right beside the boat.
- Wendy Salter, a three-year volunteer, said the rubbish comes from 'such a big area' and finds vary widely — she personally pulled a mobile phone from the water the week before the interview.
- Fraser warned The Mere would take considerable time to refill, noting recent heavy rains had made it only 'slightly deeper' than the previous week.
Why it matters: Record-low water levels from the UK's hottest summer gave Ellesmere volunteers unprecedented access to The Mere's lakebed, where they cleared five bucket-loads of debris — from bricks to mobile phones — that wading revealed but a boat could not. Park ranger Lee Fraser cautioned that even with recent heavy rains, the lake will take a long while to return to normal levels.
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