Cardiff Rivers Group during the Keep Wales Tidy Week 2010

This weekend marks the beginning of Keep Wales Tidy Week 2010, and as is tradition by now, Cardiff Rivers Group will aim to have the first event in Wales by meeting Saturday morning.

We will be returning to the feeder canal at Bute Park, continuing with our work of clearing it from it’s source at Blackweir, to where it goes underground in town. Our last event here finished around the North Road Ambulance Depot, so this will be the meeting point.

Tasks will include;

• A litter pick on both banks of the feeder and general Taff Trail area,
• Move & stack wood away from the edge of the feeder,
• Saw and move fallen branches from the water,
• Wading through the Feeder, removing as much debris as possible, improving the appearance of the Feeder as well as the flow of the water.

Volunteers are to meet at 09:45 for safety briefing & kit. This will be done from Dave’s truck, which will be parked within the park, around the Ambulance Depot. Close car parking options are; Sophia Gardens Car Park [ nr the Mochyn Du Pub CF11 9HW ] or along North Road / A470. Cathays railway station is a quarter of a mile away. Closest park access points would be the footbridge by Sophia Gardens / Summerhouse Cafe, footbridge near the ‘Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama’ or the new bridge at the end of Corbett Road. See map of the area below;

Please wear suitable footwear and pack sensibly, waterproofs if the forecast is poor, water if it’s warm ! We will provide the rest of the equipment. Let us know if you are coming so we can ensure we have enough equipment for all of you. Don’t forget to join our facebook group / facebook events. Oh, and it would be great if you could add your own photographs to our album, so bring a camera too!

Cardiff Rivers Group Bute Park Cardiff Rivers Group Bute Park Event : August 21st

Cardiff Rivers Group made a good start on the Feeder Canal in Bute Park last weekend, with around 20 volunteers working for a couple of hours, we managed to collect 30 sacks of rubbish, 2 trolleys, a roll of carpet, several traffic cones as well as move a lot of fallen branches from the waterway, helping it’s flow and appearance. Photos from this event are availalbe on our flickr galleries.

We aim to continue this work next weekend [Saturday the 21st], slowly moving towards the castle.

Tasks will include;

• A litter pick on both banks of the feeder and general Taff Trail area,
• Move & stack wood away from the edge of the feeder,
• Saw and move fallen branches from the water,
• Wading through the Feeder, removing as much debris as possible, improving the appearance of the Feeder as well as the flow of the water.

Volunteers are to meet at 09:45 for safety briefing & kit. This will be done from Dave’s truck, which will be parked within the park, around the Ambulance Depot. Close car parking options are; Pontcanna Fields changing room [ CF11 9HX ], within the Tal y Bont student halls [ CF14 3AS ] or near the North Road Ambulance Depot off North Road. See map below for general area.

Please wear suitable footwear and pack sensibly, waterproofs if the forecast is poor, water if it’s warm ! We will provide the rest of the equipment. Let us know if you are coming so we can ensure we have enough equipment for all of you. Don’t forget to join our facebook group / facebook events. Oh, and it would be great if you could add your own photographs to our album.

Cardiff Rivers Group Bute Park Event : August 15th

Hello

Hope everyone is having a good summer ! We said that Cardiff Rivers Group would have a summer break and not have any events during August, we lied. We’re having a short, city centre event this weekend. Hope you can make it !

After receiving a few requests from our members to tackle the state of the feeder canal that runs through Bute Park, we’ve decided to dedicate next Sunday morning to work on improving this waterway.

This is a fairly large project and we will be looking to come back later in the month and in September when we will hopefully be joined by some other groups to tackle around the ambulance station and castle. More on future events soon.

Tasks on Sunday will include;

• A litter pick on both banks of the feeder and general Taff Trail area,
• Move & stack wood away from the edge of the feeder,
• Saw and move fallen branches from the water,
• Wading through the Feeder, removing as much debris as possible, improving the appearance of the Feeder as well as the flow of the water.

Volunteers are to meet at the source of the Feeder, at the bridge at Blackweir at 09:45 for safety briefing & kit. This location is on the Taff Trail – an easy walk / cycle from town centre along the River Taff. Closest car parking would be at Pontcanna Fields changing room [ CF11 9HX ], within the Tal y Bont student halls [ CF14 3AS ] or near the North Road Ambulance Depot. See map below for general area.

Please wear suitable footwear and bring waterproofs. We will provide the rest of the equipment. Let us know if you are coming so we can ensure we have enough equipment for all of you.

louise.tambini[at]keepwalestidy.org or Facebook

thanks,

Dafydd

Next Event : Blackweir Bridge

Our next event is this Saturday, 26th of June. We are moving downstream this time, working around the Blackweir Brigde. With the current low water levels, we aim to tackle the unsightly litter that has been caught in the overhanging branches on the banks as well as the usual litter pick.

Volunteers are to meet outside Pontcanna Fields Changing at 10:30 for a safety briefing, this car park can be accessed from Fields Park Rd which is just off Cathedral Road opposite the Halfway Pub.

We will issue kit there and then walk over to the Blackweir. Please wear suitable footwear and bring waterproofs. We will provide the rest of the equipment. Let us know if you are coming so we can ensure we have enough equipment for all of you.

This later start is because Wales are playing the All Blacks earlier that morning. Those keen on international rugby are meeting in the Halfway Pub to see the game.

Map Location : Pontcanna Fields Changing Rooms

Don't forget that CRG now have a facebook group where join to show your support, leave comments, add photographs, join in discussions etc. Facebook Group

thanks,

dafydd

Cardiff Rivers Group Weekend Activities

Dear all,

A reminder of the two Cardiff Rivers Group meetings taking place this weekend.

We're having a short committee meeting on Friday at the Mochyn Du. Committee commences at 5:30 followed by a drink or two. Mochyn Du is the pub next to the Wales Institute of Sport in Sophia Gardens.

Our next clearup is on Sunday. Activities will include litter-picking the Taff Trail and riverbank from Forest Farm working towards Radyr as well as clearing overgrown vegetation from the trail. We will be meeting in the car park at Forest Farm, see their website for directions and a map : forestfarm.org.uk, or find via their postcode CF14 7JJ. If walking, cycling or using public transport, Forest Farm is close to Radyr railway station, from the station, cross the river using the footbridge then join the path that leads away from the river [not the Taff Trail]. Turn right within 60meters [200yrds] onto a road, which will bring you Forest Farm.

Volunteers are to meet at 09:45 for a safety briefing.We will provide litter-pickers, gloves, brushes and bags but if you have any loppers/saws please bring them as we have limited supply.

Please can you let Louise know if you are coming on Sunday so we can wait at Forest Farm before moving onto the trail. Please wear suitable footwear and clothing and bring drinking water.

Another two events that might interest are 'Fête of the Earth' event at the Central Library all day Saturday. Expect a jammed packed programme with stalls offering information and activities to help people learn about sustainability, as well as talks and film showings in the evening. More information at the library, as well as Cardiff City Council website : cardiff.gov.uk. Finally, Keep Wales Tidy staff and volunteers (including 5 volunteers from CRG!) will cycle the Taff Trail on the 19th of June to raise funds for Pedal Power – a bike charity based in Pontcanna fields. Please sponsor us at our 'Just Giving' site : justgiving.com/KWT, thanks.

We hope to see you this weekend.

Next Cardiff Rivers Group Event

We can confirm that this week's event will take place around Llandaff Weir on Saturday morning. Activities will include; Clearing of general litter from riverside footpath and areas close to the Cathedral & UWIC. Collect rubbish that has washed up on banks below weir and dig out items that we've unable to remove in past. Clear the island below the weir and use loppers to take out trapped rubbish in trees.

Volunteers are to meet outside the Rowing Club at 09:45 for a safety briefing. Parking is available at the club, or if walking, there is a riverside path from Western Avenue. Additional location details can be seen on the right of the page.

Please can you let Louise know if you are coming so we can ensure we have enough equipment. Please wear suitable footwear and clothing. We will provide the rest of the equipment.

Next CRG Event . . . . .

Cardiff Rivers Group have two events on this weekend, the main clear up will be on Sunday the 16th of May in Hailey Park - collecting the trapped rubbish from river banks, and dragging them up to the path, where Gareth the Countryside Ranger will be with his work pick up truck/van as well as litter picking the surrounding area & woods.

Volunteers to meet outside the Rugby Club changing rooms car park at 09:45 for a safety briefing. Hailey Park is a short distance from Llandaff railway station. Parking is available at the end of Radyr Road, See Bing Maps.

On the Saturday morning [15th], Cardiff Rivers Group will undertake some knottweed clearance in the same area.

Please can you let Louise know if you are coming so we can ensure we have enough equipment. Please wear suitable footwear and clothing. We will provide the rest of the equipment.

April Event

Dear all,

Our next event is this Saturday 17th Apr. We will be working upstream of our last event and are meeting in the McDonalds car park (Excelsior Road, Gabalfa, CF14 3) off Western Avenue at 9.45am. We will issue kit then and do a health and safety briefing before walking over to the river at 10am to do a couple of hours work to clear rubbish from the banks, paths and woodland.

Please wear suitable footwear and clothing. We will provide the rest of the equipment.

Location : Google Maps

Feburary Event

Our next event is this Saturday 20th Feb. We are moving downstream this month and are meeting in the car park of Pontcanna Fields Changing rooms at 10am. The car park can be accessed from Fields Park Rd which is just off Cathedral Road opposite the Halfway Pub.

We will issue kit there and then walk over to the river at Blackweir to do a couple of hours work to clear rubbish from the riverbanks. Please wear suitable footwear and bring waterproofs. We will provide the rest of the equipment.

Please can you let me know if you are coming so we can ensure we have enough equipment for all of you.

Map Location : Pontcanna Fields Changing Rooms

Future Event

The first event of 2010 will be held this Saturday 23rd Jan, so if you want to do some exercise after all the excesses of Christmas then we would love to see you! All volunteers are asked to meet in Llandaff Rowing club car park at 11am and we will do a couple of hours work to clear rubbish from the riverbanks.

We will do a survey of the stretch on Friday, and if the river is too high we will select a safe location to litter-pick nearby - so the event will take place regardless of the weather. Please wear suitable footwear and bring waterproofs. If any of you have waders or dry suits they would come in most handy! We will provide the rest of the equipment.

Please can you let Louise know if you are coming so we can ensure we have enough equipment.