FEBRUARY 2026

Dear Friends,

Despite an ‘iffy’ weather forecast, we were really pleased to have 23 of us out clearing out last Sunday morning morning.  It mizzled a bit mid-session, and then rained after we’d finished, so arguably ‘the gods’ were still basically with us.  Great to have 4 new volunteers, including one youngster along with one of our regular youngsters too.  We also ‘signed up’ two more new folk for future clears, and were thanked by several other passers-by for our efforts. 

Totals collected:

Beach:  16kgs (28kgs last time – January 2026)

Slopes: 40kgs (42kgs last time)

Total:     56kgs (70kgs last time – including an estimate for lots of collected beach hut roofing and related debris)

Totals to date since starting in April 2016: 4,602kgs – an increasingly impressive result of our care for the beach and Slopes of Tankerton Bay!

The total for the Slopes includes an estimate of several large pieces of very heavy broken wood from beach huts – some just discarded into the bushes rather than the owners / contractors having removed them.  There was also some other fly-tipping which may or may not have come from the beach huts, including a rolled up inflatable dingy and a barbecue – too heavy to bring back to our Canenco collection point, so will be reported to Canterbury City Council as fly-tipping for their separate retrieval.  

If any beach hut owners are recipients of this email, please do dispose of your building waste responsibly, and not leave it for us to clear away. Several volunteers from the Friends of Tankerton Bay are also beach hut owners, so we ask that you don’t spoil this area for everyone.

The beach still yielded quite a lot this time, even though much of it looked pretty clear at a distance.  There were the usual myriad tiny pieces of plastic – not weighing much in themselves, but still of serious environmental impact.  Oyster rack straps were around as always, together with lots of heavy ropes and fishing tackle.  The recent and continuing very strong onshore winds also seemed to have brought in things like pieces of polystyrene, although there was no sign of the lumps of palm oil recently discovered and removed by the Coastguard.  

There was little evidence on the beach of the after-effects of storm overflow releases, as has happened on previous clears, although some of the plastic sticks of cotton wool ear buds were found; we’d not seen these for some time.

Apart from the more specific fly-tipping mentioned, the Slopes also yielded the usual residue of ‘take away’ drinking and eating, such as orange peel just thrown on to the grass in front of a bench for someone else to pick up, as well as a pair of reasonable but discarded trainers in the middle of a bramble patch.  

The more general concern is still the scale of the discarded remnants of the damage being caused to the beach huts, either from the weather or just repair-work, particularly among and behind the huts in Tankerton West.

Big thanks to everyone who came out for the clear yesterday morning, and especially to our ‘unsung hero’ Brian for his invaluable help in getting our equipment ready before our start, in addition to marshalling the Junior Park Run (!) and for then assisting with getting it all back up the hill to our tennis court store afterwards.  Thanks also to Canenco for removing the fruits of our labours.

Next scheduled Beach Clean will be on Sunday 1st March (St David’s Day!) – as always subject to the weather conditions on the day, with rain being the main issue, as this would give us particular problems drying off all of the tabards before being able to put them away.  

If you can bring along your own re-usable bags, that will save some use of our plastic sacks – and extra help at about 08.45 at the tennis courts is always very welcome. Just let us know if you can help.

Best wishes – and hope to see you all in March.

David, Marilyn & Viv

for The Friends of Tankerton Bay

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Dear Friends,

What a beautiful, sunny morning we had yesterday for our Beach Clean, although, as predicted, it was a rather chilly, ‘feels like’ minus 7 degrees !   Notwithstanding that, 16 of us brave souls turned out for this first clear of 2026  – including Toby the dog and one very welcome new face. Our efforts were timely and yielded significant results.

Totals collected:

Beach:  28kgs (10kgs last time – October 2025)

Slopes: 42kgs (12kgs last time)

Total:     70kgs (22kgs last time)

The total for the Slopes this time includes an estimate of several very heavy pieces of ripped-off beach hut roofing felt, together with a discarded deck chair and some metal-framed beach chairs.  Some owners will get a nasty surprise when they next visit and see the state of their huts.

Totals to date since starting in April 2016:  4,546kgs – yet another major milestone in our care for Tankerton Bay !

The beach yielded quite a lot this time.  Some were the expected remnants of New Year celebrations – champagne corks, other bottles and cans, some BBQ and snack debris, and also firework remnants.  Oyster rack straps were again around, together with lots of heavy ropes, some plastic piping, ripped-up plastic bags, and a very heavy leather ‘sea boot’.  There were the usual myriad tiny pieces of plastic – not weighing much in themselves but still of serious environmental impact.  The recent very strong NW winds also seemed to have brought things to shore like pieces of polystyrene, although there was no sign of the lumps of palm oil recently discovered and removed by the Coastguard.  No-one got down as far as the skate park this time, so we can’t be sure how much litter will actually have been blown along and ended up there!   There was no evidence on the beach of the after-effects of storm overflow releases, as has happened previously on our clears.

The Slopes also yielded the usual residue of ‘take away’ drinking and eating, but the greater concern was the scale of the remnants of the damage caused to the beach huts, together with what seemed to be beach hut discarded contents like furniture just left lying around.  Two Christopher Hodgson sale boards were also retrieved – doubtless yet more victims of some of the recent very strong winds.  Special thanks this time to Jim, Pam and Paul, who turned up early to assist with the taking down and bringing back of the equipment – so very helpful! – as well, of course, to all those who braved the elements and so helped to give Tankerton Bay a real New Year tidy up.  Thanks also to Canenco for removing the fruits of our labours.

Next scheduled Beach Clean will be on Sunday 1st February – as always this will be subject to the weather conditions on the day, with rain being the main issue, as this would give us particular problems in drying off all of the tabards before being able to put them away.

Best wishes – and hope to see you all in February.

David, Marilyn & Viv

for The Friends of Tankerton Bay

Dear Friends,

24 brave souls came out to do battle at the Beach Clean yesterday, with some still quite strong westerly winds – although nothing like the winds of the last few days.  This total included two of our regular youngsters, and we also took contact details of a local couple who came to chat with us, and who hopefully will be joining us on future clears.  Tankerton resident and Canterbury City Councillor for Chestfield, James Flanagan, was also with us once again.  

Totals collected:

Beach:  10kgs (20kgs last time)

Slopes: 12kgs (45kgs last time)

Total:     22kgs (65kgs last time)

Totals to date since starting in April 2016:  4,476kgs

The recent bad weather, together with the continuing strong winds, probably helped in that not much litter was left around.  However, those on the beach reported a surprising return to finds of the blue sticks from cotton wool buds, and also other fragments of sanitary products.  

It was suggested that there had been recent storm discharges, and that this may have caused these to have reappeared.  (Further update: on the actual day of the planned protest against Southern Water, due to take place at The Street in Whitstable on Saturday, (cancelled due to Storm Amy) Southern Water later admitted to yet another significant sewage outflow on to our beaches – they seemingly never stop, do they?).

There were the usual finds of small plastics, plastic ties, fishing line and ropes – and this time quite a few champagne corks, perhaps also blown into the Bay on the tide from further along the foreshore.  A shotgun cartridge and some discarded vapes were also found.

On the Slopes, there was the usual rubbish of glass and plastic bottles, and also cans.  Odd items of clothing were collected – like one shoe, one sock – with the areas between some of the beach huts seemingly being used as dog toilets, but without the dog owners either being aware (ie dogs running off the lead, or else just not bothering to pick up).

Particular thanks as always to those who came along to assist with the taking down and bringing back of the equipment . . . so very helpful!

Next scheduled Beach Clean will be on Sunday, 2nd November – as always at this time of the year this will be subject to the weather conditions, especially rain and those north-easterlies!

Hope to see you all next time! 

David, Marilyn & Viv, for The Friends of Tankerton Bay