To kick-off we were welcomed by Emily and the other volunteers, ready to start the day.
We split into teams; land-lubbers to clean up the park, and river-waders to clean up the river.
Excited for a unique opportunity to wade through a river (not something you do every day!), we chose the latter.
The river was surprisingly clean for an inner-city park; likely all credit to the great work local volunteers do on a regular basis to keep it tidy.
Nevertheless, after gingerly wading in, our bin bags were quickly filling up with discarded materials.
The repeat offenders became quickly apparent; Red Bull cans, Strongbow Cider, and Kit Kat wrappers.
But there were also some more 'exotic' items, including an umbrella and part of a picture frame(!)
The face I make after picking up one too many 'exotic' items…
This wasn't just a clean-up day however, we were also lucky enough to learn from Emily's encyclopaedic knowledge of the river and its local inhabitants.
Emily expertly picked out certain slabs, and gingerly lifted them to reveal a universe of riparian life underneath.
Fish, snails, plants - Emily knew it all!
And Emily even gave us a crash-course in local planning rules, which ensure developers include special bricks within any river-facing walls, to give habitat for river flora and fauna.
We kept a beady eye out for eels too (Emily's favourite local denizen), but sadly didn't come across any on this occasion.
Emily revealing a whole world under the rocks.
We travelled up and down the river, grabbing trash as well as ripping out invasive 'Himalayan Balsam' plants, which gave a satisfying 'snap' on every up-root.
There were a few near-misses, as each of us on occasion nearly lost our footing and planted straight into the river-bed… but fortunately this was just about avoided.
After a few hours we had completed the entire local stretch of the River Quaggy.
After handing over our trash bags to the local council, we rounded-off the day (as always) with tea and biscuits to celebrate a morning well-done.
