Express & Star

Warwick Castle holds river and litter clean up for World Oceans Day

In celebration of World Oceans Day, the team at landlocked Warwick Castle held a river and litter clean up in its local area last week.

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The team at Warwick Castle ahead of the river and litter clean up

To create awareness of World Oceans Day, The Sea Life Trust held a 24 hour beach clean on June 8, removing rubbish to help protect the ocean and marine wildlife - starting at sunrise in New Zealand and ending at sunset in California.

However, as Warwick Castle is just under two hours from the nearest beach, the team decided to get involved by cleaning up its local waterway, the River Avon, and the surrounding area in the Warwick and Leamington Spa area instead.

Starting in St Nicholas Park in Warwick, the team spent the morning cleaning up litter from the river and surrounding region, filling around 13 bin bags and walking 4,500 steps.

Nick Blofeld, divisional director of Warwick Castle, commented: “Despite being so far from the ocean, Warwick Castle does sit on the River Avon and with our birds of prey and 65 acres of grounds, we are also very conscious of conservation and the natural environment.

"While we don’t have any local beaches to clean up in Warwick, it’s important for all of us as a community to consider how we can modify our behaviour and help preserve our ecosystems – which is why we decided to help litter pick in St Nicholas Park and along the river.”

The River Avon flows through the Castle grounds and is also the setting for its new show, The Falconer’s Quest.

Featuring around 70 birds, The Falconer’s Quest is the UK’s largest bird of prey show and is a mixture of live action, aerial acrobatics and storytelling – culminating in up to 40 huge birds all flying over the river and the heads of the audience at the same time.

For more information and to buy tickets, click here.