The dedicated group keeping Denshaw free of litter

A SMALL but dedicated band of community-focused villagers are helping to keep the area of Saddleworth where they live free of litter. 

For nearly four years now, the Denshaw Litter Pickers have been going out every Saturday morning, come rain or shine, with their litter pickers and bin bags to do their bit to ensure the village is looking spick and span.

It all started during the Covid pandemic as Paul Gilbert, one of the group’s members, explained.

“I got chatting to Conservative councillor Luke Lancaster over Facebook, he does regular litter picks and he said he would come up and do Denshaw one day,” Paul told the Independent.

“I said he couldn’t do it on his own and that’s how it started. It was a bit of an excuse to get out and about in those days as it was a legitimate activity. We’re still going strong.

“We have a core group of around 10 of us now, some have been with us from the beginning. We’re a small village so we get seen quite regularly and people have asked if they can join us. We try to cover the five main roads in the village on rotation. It’s very much a group effort.”

The group has seen the litter situation improve over time since they first started their regular activity.

“We first started going out twice a week and we were picking up 10 or 12 bin bags of litter each time, so back then it was certainly a bigger problem,” said Paul, who has lived in Denshaw since 2017.

“We obviously realised there was some litter around the place but I don’t think we perhaps realised how big of a problem it was at the time. Now we only go out once a week and we generally don’t collect as much litter as we did. I think that highlights how bad it was before, we’re now on top of it and keeping it down.”

But they have noticed an increase in fly-tipping recently – including the remains of a cannabis farm on Huddersfield Road by the New Years Bridge reservoir.

“We’ve had a couple of finds like that,” Paul admitted. “We cleared a similar amount from the A672 over to Ripponden a few weeks ago.

“Saddleworth is a target for the tipping because it’s just such a large area with so many isolated spots. All they need is an empty stretch of road and they dump the bags out. In the last 12 or 18 months, there has been more deliberate fly-tipping.”

Anyone who wishes to join the Denshaw Litter Pickers can keep up to date with when and where they will be litter picking via the ‘In and around Denshaw’ Facebook group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/denshaw.

As Paul explains, the group has grown to serve a secondary purpose of providing an opportunity for the community to come together and socialise.

“When we first started organising the litter picks, none of us knew each other before. In essence, it’s brought people together in the social aspect.

“As well as the litter picking aspect, we get together regularly for social gatherings where we sit down for a meal and have a chat and a laugh. It’s probably more of that aspect now because we’re on top of the litter picking.

“Denshaw is a very unique village in that we don’t have a shop and there’s only two pubs that serve food and then a drinking pub. Other than the people who live directly next door to you, there’s not much opportunity to bump into people to speak to. So on a Saturday morning, we catch up with each other as well. There’s much more of a community now and we help each other during the week.”

What is also pleasing for the group is that young people are interested in getting involved.

“We currently have eight young people who are helping us litter pick for their Duke of Edinburgh award and they have approached me to do that,” Paul told us.

“It started last year when we had a couple of lads did it for the DoE and one of those has come back this year.

“There are limited opportunities for children to do volunteering work in Denshaw so it’s good they want to get involved in litter picking with us.

“I think the young people are perhaps more aware of the surroundings and the litter. We hear of stories where parents have taken their kids out because they have seen us litter picking. It shows the impact we are having in setting an example to these children.

“Parents are more than welcome to bring their children out with us on a Saturday. In the past, we’ve had children as young as five, six and seven out picking up litter. For us, it’s a lot more about getting young people interested in where they live.

“Anyone is welcome to join us, just bring some gloves with you and if you have your own litter picker you can bring that too.”

The Denshaw Litter Pickers have also established a positive relationship with Oldham Council but the group is also about taking responsibility for and pride in the place they call home.

“We’re grateful that we now have a contact from the council, through Luke Lancaster, who supplies the bin bags for us,” Paul added.

“We used to have to carry all the heavy bags into the middle of the village and the council came to take them away. But now if they get really heavy or we see a huge fly-tipping issue, if we get it all together at the side of the road, the council will take it away for us.

“We’re getting support from the council and we’re happy to work with them. They are stretched and struggling to maintain services so this is the happy compromise. We are happy to do our bit, ultimately everyone has a responsibility for where they live. We want to be proud of where we live, especially living in a small rural village like Denshaw.”

Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, who represents the Saddleworth West and Lees ward on Oldham Council and is also a member of Saddleworth Parish Council, commented: “The work that volunteers do across the community is fantastic.

“It shows that people care about where they live, and is an absolute antidote to the people who are dropping rubbish in the first place, or fly-tipping criminals taking advantage.

“More than anything, it’s a good chance to meet and do something positive with other people who want to make their villages a better place to live.”