On a day when thousands of people around the UK are recording the litter dropped, washed up, dumped on the beaches as part of the MCS Big Beach Watch, I set off on my 100m walk along the strandline of Achnahaird Bay  a beach which is so clean and beautiful that I thought I had walked into a Natural Scotland advertisement, white sand  blue water . Walking a hundred metres of  the along the western edge of the  high tide line  thick with a fabulous cocktail of seaweed, I only find one piece of litter an aluminium can!  I begin to punch the air and  marvel at how clean the beach is. Thinking of all the rubbish  I have collected since arriving in Wester-Ross.

Walking back across the beach and upwards through the rocks forming the strandline   I notice the westerly high tide line of thick matted seaweed and notice three plastic bottles , a tennis, ball , a rubber boat defender …..I reach for my notebook to jot down another 100m of strandline.  Perhaps Achnahaird is not quite spotless but it is the cleanest beach I have seen in over a year.  Which fills me with hope and a great sense of if only feelings!  

Checking out the MCS feedback on the Big Beach Watch weekend   I see that more countries have now joined in on this world wide monitoring that takes place on the 3^rd weekend every year. It’s unfortunate that that weekend is a festival weekend here in Ullapool hence difficult organise volunteers for a beach cleaning event. Recording what’s happening on our beaches is so important that  I am planning to  set up a beach survey and clean on the North East Beach  just past Ullapool sailing club next week. Posters will be going up on lamp posts and here. Everyone will be welcome.