Category Archives: Pix and Picks

Another very successful litterpicking session at which we welcomed a new participant who made a significant contribution and who we hope to see again. The weather was warm and the mozzies weren’t too hungry – and even if they had been the excellent anti-mozzie spray that gets shared round is an excellent deterrent.

As usual, our friendly team set off with enthusiasm and did an incredibly impressive task, visiting all the usual areas and picking up the usual sexual debris – used condoms (and some unused!), condom foils and lube sachets, wipes and tissues. And one of the effects of the recent warm weather was a plethora of cans and bottles that were also collected.

It was good to speak with a few cruisers, and a dog-walker, who commented on how much better the place was looking. That will potentially reduce the likelihood of complaints (and the need the authorities then feel to have to be seen to take action, whether they want to or not).

A cruising spot we call The Gym (well it seems to be designed for exercise!) was in its usual state:

Before

After

The mid-morning break, always an opportunity for a further chat and some well-earned refreshments, was as usual appreciated. Free buttered hot crossed buns, Wagon Wheels and Mars Bars were on the menu, as was coke (hmmmm!).

With the amount of time, and the number of people involved, it was possible to not only deal with the usual ‘hot spots’ but also to reach the parts our litterpicking sessions haven’t already reached. So the path round The Mound has now been cleared of litter that has been there for many years. It is good to see that the rubbish sack we have placed in the middle of The Mound is being well used.

Another record-breaking session! 21 bags collected by our brilliant team of volunteers, 3 more collected by one of our group who, not wanting to leave just yet, stayed on to get some more, and yet 1 more sack collected by another supporter who had come along during the day and cleaned up the area across the road in the area in front of the school.

THAT’S A TOTAL OF 25 SACKS TODAY!

Huge thanks, on behalf of everyone who wants cruising to continue at Snaresbrook uninterrupted, to all those who pick up the litter others leave, and to those who are considerate enough to take their litter away with them or make sure it goes in a bin before they leave.

OWL really is having an impact!

We have three more litterpicking sessions planned for this year (check the dates here). Please consider joining our friendly litterpicking group, aiming to make the area better for everyone.

Despite being ‘two men down’ our volunteers weren’t to be daunted and, after a pleasant chat with two friendly forest rangers (who had to speed off to another park to deal with a ‘flasher’), set out with their usual enthusiasm and commitment. Some might ask if it is possible to be enthusiastic about picking up other people’s sexual debris! Fair point!

We continue to be really pleased that the amount of sexual debris in the usual ‘hot spots’ is much less, and from what we’ve seen in the bins it does seem to be because it is being appropriately disposed of rather than there being less sex taking place, or worse still, less condoms being used. And our signs, encouraging users of the area to take their litter away, are still in place – maybe they are having an effect.

There were a few early cruisers around. Funny how the sight of we guys with litterpickers and bin bags changes people from being in ‘sleazy, head down, furtive look’ mode to ‘just having a brisk walk in the woods, head high, oh and just checking my change in my pockets’ mode!! And some who dived enthusiastically into some of the nooks and crannies hoping to find an orgy going on were disappointed that the only flexible friends sticking out were the litterpicking devices!

Some of the ‘hot spots’, even if less littered than usual, needed our attention.

Honeysuckle corner (if you are a daytime cruiser you will probably be able to identify this location at this time of year) smelled sweet, but contained its usual selection of litter – used condoms, tissues, condom foils, tissues, lube sachets, tissues, poppers bottles, tissues – and tissues too. How much cleaning up do some guys need to do (well, to be fair, lots judging by the colour of some of the tissues! Yuch!)?

Our tally of bags gradually increased as we moved through each of the areas.

(please note – we respect everyone’s right to remain anonymous if they wish, so we only include pics with express permission – just saying)

The rain came, as it so often does, just as we were enjoying our refreshments so the shelter of the cars meant that it had little impact.

Onwards after our refreshments to more of the same – this time to the left of the car park. We must have done a good job in the past because today’s edition of Time Out carries a two-page pic of one of the cruising paths – the area was so clean that we’ve made the news, and for a positive reason!

The only downside to today’s litterpick was that we like to get a pic, at the end, of the full tally – 14 sacks in this case (incredible!). But the rubbish lorry came and took most of the sacks away before we could take the pic. But there again, to be fair, most of us do like to have our sacks dealt with frequently!!

Please consider joining us at one of our litterpicking sessions – we are a friendly group and we believe we are having a real impact; making the area able to be enjoyed by all.

Back to the task in hand for the second month in a row, and although we had some tidying up of where we cleared last month, we were able to move on to ‘pastures’ new (‘pastures’ is probably the least accurate description of the places we cleaned up!). Overall it was an amazingly good litterpicking session with a staggering 19 bags of litter collected overall. We haven’t got a pic of the complete collection of bags as the collection lorry arrived part way through.

As usual our volunteers ensured that as many of the ‘facilities’ as possible were visited in an attempt to get rid of both the sexual debris – which we are especially looking for – as well as the general litter left by a range of users of the area.

The majority of our signs, asking cruisers to take their litter away with them, were in place and are having the desired effect. Many thanks to those guys who, rather than throwing stuff on the ground or in the bushes, take it away with them. After all, there are bins around for stuff that you don’t want to take with you. An OWL volunteer has placed a dustbin along the track and it is well-used; but it is not approved of by the City of London Corporation who manage the Forest, although they tolerate it. OWL believes that there should be more bins, better-placed, like there are at Hampstead Heath.

A welcome refreshment break, then back to work with plenty of litter still to be collected.

Another enjoyable morning together with an excellent amount of litter collected and an appropriate camaraderie between participants.

The first of this year’s sessions, we knew we had lots to do to get back to the eventual cleanliness we achieved last year. So, despite the rain we headed off into the woods, our plan being to try to make an impact on those areas which would be most likely to be seen by other users of the area. These are the areas most likely to generate complaints.

With a few guys working at each of the ‘hotspots’ we can quickly turn what many will feel is offensive sexual debris into a much more pleasant-looking area. At the ‘hotspots’ we routinely pick up: used condoms, condom sachets, lube sachets, wipes and tissues, old poppers bottles, kamagra packets, vinyl gloves as well as empty bottles and cans.

We aren’t ‘do-gooders’ or anything like that! We want cruising to continue and feel that that will be helped by lessening the number of complaints about the litter which many, possibly understandably, find offensive.

We weren’t sorry to take a break for refreshments, when we could also catch up with a friendly Forest Ranger whose approach and attitude to the activities in the area are refreshingly supportive – unlike so many of his colleagues!

Our final haul for the day – 9 sacks, mainly of sexual debris, to add to the two sacks collected yesterday.

We had one further task to complete – replacing last year’s signs with some fresh ones. Some are high up and subtle; some are a lot more obvious. We wonder how long they will remain in place for?

(Incidentally, pictures of those involved in our litterpicking sessions are only taken, and displayed here, with their express consent – the right of anyone not to have their picture taken, and to remain anonymous, is one we take seriously.)

In 2015 we collected about 250 sacks of litter! (well, these were the first litter-picks ever in some of the most-used ‘hot spots’, so there were 20 + years of sexual debris there).

The final haul from one of our litter-picking sessions in 2015

Examples of a recent litter-pick:

Before

After

Before

After

And, like the VERY many other ‘hot spots’ remaining, this one (“The Gym”) still needs attention.