Ellie and I joined task owner Mick from the National Trust this morning for a litter pick in the Gateshead Riverside Park. It was fascinating listening to Mick explaining how the National Trust and Gateshead Council are working together on various projects to preserve and restore the heritage of the area. I was prompted to do some research and note that the area was landscaped during the 1960s and 70s with sculptures being added in the 80s and 90s. Sadly the area is now very overgrown with lots of litter and bigger pieces of refuse such as pieces of old furniture and, would you believe, a broken ceramic toilet! Although it was reassuring to see some bluebells persevering through the undergrowth! Mick explained that it’s unusual to have a corridor of mixed woodland going all the way to a city, in this case part of the Gibside Green Corridor leading to the High Level Bridge. The Gibside Green Corridor is one of 20 (if I remember correctly) to be funded in the country. The bridge is part of the Gateshead/Newcastle heritage that will soon require work to preserve it, along with Dunston Staiths which is very close to the park. The Staiths were first opened in 1893 to load local coal brought from the coalfields onto ships. The wooden structure is one of the few remaining in the country and very much part of the mining heritage of the area, so hugely important to preserve it. Mick and his team are full of ideas! Today’s task though was a little less ambitious but we did collect 10 bags of rubbish in an hour! Hopefully this will help make the area a little more appealing while we wait for the bigger projects to come to fruition!