August 2026
Welcome
Welcome to the second newsletter from Love our Tyne. If you have any thoughts on this newsletter, any suggestions for inclusion in future issues or would like to get involved with Love our Tyne please contact connect@loveourtyne.org.uk
When the tide brought nurdles, the Tyne brought people together
On 19 July tonnes of tiny beads, known as nurdles, entered the River Tyne when a vessel struck a shipping container in South Shields. The Tyne Rivers Trust have described this as an environmental disaster which will continue affecting the ecosystem for years to come.
Safety professional and Nurdle clean up volunteer, Sal Brecken writes for Love our Tyne on the catastrophe. She explains that the need for urgent action and how you can help.
When tiny plastic nurdles began washing through the Tyne and onto our beaches, our community did what our community does best: they noticed, they cared, and they turned up armed with buckets, sieves and determination. Three weeks after the collision between the Wind Orca and the berthed BG Orange at the Port of Tyne, a reported 17 tonnes of plastic pellets have entered the river. Since then, volunteers north and south of the Tyne have given more than 5,300 hours to the clean-up effort, recovering an estimated half a tonne of nurdles from local beaches.
Each nurdle is only a few millimetres wide; about the size of a lentil, easy to mistake for a broken shell or miss altogether. They have so far spread across a huge stretch of coastline, from Newbiggin-by-the-Sea to Roker. Every tide can bury them, scatter them or carry them further, which is why volunteers have been out working patiently across beach after beach, tide after tide. Nurdles may be small, but their impact can be serious. Councils have explained that while the pellets are not considered toxic in themselves, they can absorb pollutants from seawater and may be mistaken for food by birds, fish and other wildlife.
For the nurdle hunters, the next few days are crucial. The spring tides expected between 14 and 18 August could be one of the most important moments in the clean-up so far. As the sea lifts, it pulls and moves the sand, and buried nurdles may be brought back to the surface, while others may be washed further along the coast or carried out to sea. That gives volunteers a short, vital window to collect as many pellets as possible while they are still within reach. Sally McGee, a local surf instructor and campaign spokesperson, has described this as a crucial opportunity to recover nurdles: “The swell could churn up the sand, bringing buried nurdles back to the surface and into the river,” she said, “Every volunteer, professional and government resource needs to be focused on recovering as many pellets as possible before the tide carries them out to sea.” “This is an important window in which we have to act.” More volunteers are needed now, especially over the next few days as every hour of a new nurdlers time can make a difference. Every pair of hands helps; collecting nurdles on the beach now is a nurdle not heading out to sea later. Practical guidance on how to clean safely, what kit to use and where to start has been provided by the volunteers and is available through a volunteer website.
The volunteer work has not just been about hands on the sand; volunteer sewing machinists have made more than 500 reusable mesh collection bags, while an admin and press group has been quietly working away in the background, coordinating teams, dealing with enquiries and sharing guidance. Through it all, Tynesiders north and south have kept showing up for the river, the beaches and one another. In the face of something vast and upsetting, they have turned care into action, worry into purpose, and a scattered tide of tiny plastic pellets into a shared reminder of what community can do when it refuses to look away.
If you think you could help and would like more information, visit: https://nurdle-hub-ne.vercel.app/how-to-clean
Aims and objectives
Love our Tyne has developed the following aims and objectives. Feedback is welcome using the contact details above. We are also developing a set of principles. Love our Tyne is a non party political organisation which welcomes everyone who cares for the River Tyne. We seek to co create a charter of rights for the Tyne, its catchment and tributaries. We will be running events to involve our communities in designing these rights. The first one of these is to be held at Hexham Climate Cafe on 26 September from 11am in Hexham Library (Queens Hall.) All are welcome
Aim
Love Our Tyne works toward the development and recognition of the rights of the River Tyne in order to enhance life and health for all
Objectives
- Increasing public awareness of the Rights of Nature movement and its application to rivers
- Co-creating a charter of rights for the River Tyne
- Promoting public engagement around the rights of the River Tyne
- Working with relevant organisations to promote and embed these rights
- Cooperating with other organisations nationally who are working toward similar aims
Local groups
It is likely that the Love our Tyne movement will be actualised through local groups set up by local communities along the Tyne and its feeder streams and rivers, working to the same principles. If you are interested in setting up or being involved with such a group then please contact us at connect@loveourtyne.org.uk
Become a River Guardian
In June Paul Powlesland, a lawyer and environmental campaigner, organised a team of volunteers to tackle the removal of litter, weed and silt from a section of the River Roding. He was threatened with prosecution by the Environment Agency.
Paul is offering a free webinar on 18 August – Learn how to become a River Guardian in your own community with practical actions you can begin immediately, whether you’re just getting started or already involved. Understand what’s really happening to Britain’s rivers and why pollution, sewage and environmental decline continue despite growing public concern
Sign up to attend The River Will Not Wait
Free Webinar – Tues 18th Aug 6pm
Website
Please bookmark the Love our Tyne website https://loveourtyne.org/ Here you can find information about the organisation as well as a link to the Tyne wide survey and a ‘news’ section where you can read about Malcolm and John Green’s Tyne pilgrimage amongst other news
Pictures
Pictures of the Tyne are still welcome and can be sent to connect@loveourtyne.org.uk We are discussing with Hexham and District Photographic Society how they might help us create images that tell the current story of the Tyne and its catchment.
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