09/07/2026
💦🗑️ South Walney Beach Clean ♻️💦
An ‘Environmental Studies and Outdoor Adventure’ group from Beaumont College South Lakes collaborated with partner organisations to carry out an all-day beach clean at South Walney Nature Reserve.
What is South Walney Nature Reserve? Protected by Cumbria Wildlife Trust, and with amazing views across Morecambe Bay, this location is a fantastic place for bird watching. It is also home to the only colony of grey seals in North West England.
Under the guidance of Milly from the Lakes Aquarium and Jess who used to work at Dalton Zoo, the group set out not only to remove things which shouldn’t be on the beach but to see how many natural discoveries they could make, too.
Searching for litter demonstrated the large variety of items which are either discarded on the beach or washed up by the tide. From traffic cones to oil cans and bottle tops to plastic wrap, there was plenty of cleaning up to do.
The students also found natural items such as crabs, shells, skulls, shark skins and egg cases.
Apart from the group spotting some seals bobbing up and down in the sea, the rarest find of the day was made by Jack, who discovered a bottle containing a list of names of people through the years, signed by people who had found the bottle. There was also a geocache in the bottle. After looking at the contents, the bottle was sealed again, ready for the next adventurer to find.
At the end of the session, after collecting the rubbish, the students took their bin bags to the Coastguards Cottages for safe disposal.
Have a look at our video slideshow to find out what a fabulous experience the group had. Well done everybody!
