Dozens of shopping trolleys and other unusual items removed from canal in single clean-up sweep

[Alan de Enfield]

Dozens of shopping trolleys and other unusual items removed from canal in single clean-up sweep | Express & Star (expressandstar.com)

 

Volunteers have removed a shocking number of shopping trolleys from a single stretch of canal in the Stourton area.

 

 

The Stewpony team found 50 shopping trolleys in the water, which could have caused problems for boaters.

They also removed other debris from the canal.

Some of the items they found appear to include road signs, chairs, traffic cones, tyres, a wheelbarrow, buckets and fencing.

 

 

The Canal & River Trust West Midlands posted the imagery on social media, alongside a short statement: "Our volunteers in Stewponey, Stourbridge have spent the day removing shopping trolleys from the canal.

"In total they removed 50 from water which could have caused issues for boaters.

[rusty69]

I wonder what the unusual items were!

[Hudds Lad]

18 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

I wonder what the unusual items were!

Boats  

[Mac of Cygnet]

That's my wheelbarrow!  It was stolen last summer.  How did it get to Stourbridge?

[billh]

I should think that green traffic cone could be classed as an "unusual item"?😀 I haven't seen one before.

[rusty69]

Just now, billh said:

I should think that green traffic cone could be classed as an "unusual item"?😀 I haven't seen one before.

That's an eco cone.

E-cone, for short. 

Edited January 28, 2023 by rusty69

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, billh said:

I should think that green traffic cone could be classed as an "unusual item"?😀 I haven't seen one before.

 

Green cones are used to indicate the entrance to work sites from live carriageways.

Yellow cones are used to help workers identify the proximity of overhead high voltage cables.

[rusty69]

Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Green cones are used to indicate the entrance to work sites from live carriageways.

Yellow cones are used to help workers identify the proximity of overhead high voltage cables.

What are the ones that you see strewn all over the roads with absolutely no work being done for weeks on end called? 

[Alan de Enfield]

13 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

What are the ones that you see strewn all over the roads with absolutely no work being done for weeks on end called? 

 

Stock-pile.

 

It was all part of the EU plan that each country had to take a minimum number (millions) of road cones each year to keep the road cone manufacturers in business (a bit like the butter mountains and the wine lakes).

Being a relatively small landmass our storage areas were soon filled and the only place left to store the road cones was on the roads.

 

Hope that answers your question.

[rusty69]

Is it April 1st? 

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Is it April 1st? 

 

It has been (quite a few times)

[Sea Dog]

Is there a supermarket within a trolley dash of Stewponey? I suppose this means there must be and, if so, I'd be grateful for directions to update my Nicholson.

[magnetman]

I wonder if they sell diced small horse. 

[Alan de Enfield]

3 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I wonder if they sell diced small horse. 

 

How about 'melted down' Pony ?

(Advert from the early 1900s)

 

 

 

[Sea Dog]

9 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I wonder if they sell diced small horse. 

Comes from a corruption of "Estepona"-  where some local landowner's Missus came from is one I've heard.

[jonesthenuke]

17 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Is there a supermarket within a trolley dash of Stewponey? I suppose this means there must be and, if so, I'd be grateful for directions to update my Nicholson.

The team are based in Stewponey, my guess is that they were working in Stourbridge, or more likely Kidderminster given the number of trolleys.

[magnetman]

Indeed the image shows no shopping trolleys. 

Well there is one actually !

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Indeed the image shows no shopping trolleys. 

Well there is one actually !

 

 

Have you actually opened the link ?

 

The Stewpony team found 50 shopping trolleys in the water, which could have caused problems for boaters.

 

[magnetman]

I was just going on the image in the original post. Perhaps as mentioned above those were in a different location .

Perhaps the comma was meant to be an "and". 

 

"Our volunteers in Stewponey, Stourbridge"

[Mac of Cygnet]

I've twice recently had e-mails from CRT warning of a shopping trolley in the Calder & Hebble.  

[Richard T]

If you read to the end of the article it states that the trolleys etcwere removed from the canal by Tescos in Kidderminster. PersonallyI would have taken them back and put them in the trolly park in such positions that customers would have had to move them to get at clean ones to shop with. Thats what Idid with an Aldi one rescued from  the cut at Wednesfield last year.

[magnetman]

5 minutes ago, Richard T said:

 PersonallyI would have taken them back and put them in the trolly park in such positions that customers would have had to move them to get at clean ones to shop with. Thats what Idid with an Aldi one rescued from  the cut at Wednesfield last year.

I used to do that at Leighton Buzzard Tesco. The message needs to get through somehow. 

Edited January 28, 2023 by magnetman

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, Richard T said:

PersonallyI would have taken them back and put them in the trolly park in such positions that customers would have had to move them to get at clean ones to shop with.

Why not wheel them into the store and hand them in at the customer service desk?

[Jon57]

12 hours ago, David Mack said:

Why not wheel them into the store and hand them in at the customer service desk?

Yes full with all their carrier bags and other crap. 👍

[Jen-in-Wellies]

On 28/01/2023 at 10:25, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Stock-pile.

 

It was all part of the EU plan that each country had to take a minimum number (millions) of road cones each year to keep the road cone manufacturers in business (a bit like the butter mountains and the wine lakes).

Being a relatively small landmass our storage areas were soon filled and the only place left to store the road cones was on the roads.

 

Hope that answers your question.

It was more complicated than that. The original increase in the number of cones came after the EU introduced Set-Aside, where farmers were paid to take land out of use. This was aimed at reducing the wine lakes, butter mountains and so on. The British government saw an opportunity and reclassified the countries motorway and trunk road network as agricultural land. They then took miles of dual carriageway and motorway lanes out of use with rows of cones, allowing them to lie fallow and pocketing the EU cash. A welcome boost to the vital road cone industry, so almost every one was a winner. Excepting people driving of course.