Bikes in the canals

IT IS not just CaRT who use volunteers to clear rubbish that is dropped into canals, writes Roger Fox.

Last week I was in Holland and visited the delightful canal town of Leiden.

A bike every time

Here I found several groups of students using grappling hooks to haul bicycles out of the canal in the town centre. There were so many in the canal that every throw produces a bike. Quite extraordinary!

The students told me that this is an annual event and that the pile in my picture is the result of one year's dumping. I saw larger piles at other locations and the total value must be enormous.

Fitted in

Somehow the piles of bikes fitted into the 'streetscape' rather better than the pile of shopping trolleys that might come out of a similar UK location.