Alison Stenning
@alisonstenning.bsky.social
Geographer - Professor - Mum - Playing - #playstreets - Cycling - #kidicalmass - #WarOnCars - Walking - Noticing - Green - North Tyneside - North Shields - UK
A lot of excuses for very slow action - no explanation for why a boom or just other attempts to clear nurdles in the river or prevent them flowing out to sea couldn’t be put in place away from the collision site. Over 2 weeks after spill, they’re now finally focused on clearing the nurdles?
ChronicleLive - The Chronicle@chroniclelive.co.uk · 8h agoThe Port of Tyne says it is ready to move onto the second phase of a "complex operation" to pick nurdles from the River
He was only briefly here - giving two lectures to North Shields anti-slavery society in 1846 - but it’s good to see Frederick Douglass celebrated, adding to the complex record of Shields’ history. www.bbc.com/news/article...
North Shields plaque for abolitionist Frederick Douglass unveiled
Frederick Douglass gave two lectures at North Shields in 1846, according to a local group.
bbc.com
Today is #Playday2026! The theme this year is “Play - here, there, everywhere”. All children and teenagers have the right to time, space and freedom to play – here, there and everywhere.
🛝Happy Playday! 🎉 Wishing everyone a great day filled with lots of fun and play! 🥳 www.playengland.org.uk/newsblog/pla... #Playday2026 #PlayEverywhere #ItAllStartsWithPlay!
Playday 2026 - play here, there and everywhere — Play England
Playday 2026 calls for support to enable children to play here, there and everywhere Today, as thousands of children, young people, and families across the UK celebrate Playday by attending local e...
playengland.org.uk
Oh, and by supporting residents to do it, especially in neighbourhoods where the obstacles might be greater. Play streets can be a simple, accessible thing, but in some places, for some communities more support is needed. See Playing Out’s toolkit: playingout.net/play-streets...
Alison Stenning@alisonstenning.bsky.social · 22h ago“It’s a rare chance for the kids in this neighbourhood to play outside together, in a space big enough to frolic and safe from traffic” More local authorities need to make this possible easily, by simplifying the application process and ensuring it’s always free. Streets should be spaces for play.
“It’s a rare chance for the kids in this neighbourhood to play outside together, in a space big enough to frolic and safe from traffic” More local authorities need to make this possible easily, by simplifying the application process and ensuring it’s always free. Streets should be spaces for play.
Leeds: The city closing down streets so children can play
In Leeds, streets are being temporarily closed to traffic so kids have more space to safely play - an initiative proving beneficial to both children and adults.
bbc.co.uk
“Once, across much of the the world’s temperate zones, we looked forward to summer as a time of delights, from summer’s bounty of fruits, long days, warmth, school holidays, activities like camping and swimming, travel and adventure. Now many of us dread it.” One more hit for play in our lives…
We launched a war on nature. Now we are in a climate warzone | Rebecca Solnit
Summer is not what it once was. We have been robbed of one of life’s great joys
theguardian.com
A new housing development under construction in the Netherlands The cycle infrastructure is already in place, complete with junctions ready to connect to future homes, along with dedicated bus lanes Active and sustainable travel is planned from the very beginning, not bolted on as an afterthought
Catching up on nurdle news from the other side of the North Sea. I can’t pick nurdles from here but I can share updates, and it seems like the changing tides and/or the rain have brought thousands more nurdles back to the beaches/surface, and the birds are trying to feed on them.
I’m not really on Facebook anymore so can’t post holiday highlights there, which means Bluesky gets them. We had the most amazing lunch today at Uncommon in Amsterdam - bizarre combinations of flavours (pineapple, tapenade, and kimchi; peach, basil, feta and cashew) but absolutely delicious.
“This is negligence and it's so disappointing, the Port of Tyne response was too delayed and now we've got people out with kitchen sieves trying to solve the problem themselves.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Nurdles clean-up volunteers meet Port of Tyne chief executive
Campaigners discuss next steps in the clean-up of pellets with the Port of Tyne's chief executive.
bbc.co.uk
Off to the Netherlands on the DFDS ferry; these trips always start so well with views of my hometown 😀 - but a bit tainted this time by seeing many, many nurdles in the Tyne, even if also nurdle cleaners, professional (I think) and volunteer.
It’s August so it must be the month for Orange Club Biscuit ice cream at Di Meo’s (Whitley Bay), 25p per scoop going to Cullercoats RNLI!
If you're arriving at uni this autumn, or maybe dropping your kids, remember that there could be a ghostly phalanx of absent redundant staff, lost modules and degraded degrees making it a very unhappy place. It may *look* the same, but it won't *be* the same. www.ft.com/content/e5b0...
Several UK universities nearly ran out of cash last year, says report
Almost a quarter of higher education institutions were left with less than 70 days of cash to cover costs
ft.com
“By Sunday, about 3,000 volunteer hours had been logged and an estimated 285kg of nurdles had been recovered by the ‘people’s army’.”
‘There’s no nurdle fairy’: thousands mobilise to clean up plastic spillage in north-east England
Volunteers painstakingly gather plastic pellets washing up on beaches after ship collision on 19 July
theguardian.com
An evening on the beach at King Eddie’s, Tynemouth and pleased to see that there were almost no nurdles. It won’t be the end of them, but a sign all the volunteers did good work.
“It is estimated that 210 bags have been made by home machinists since Sunday.” The first nurdlers realised mesh bags would help, dozens of local people sourced fabric & sewed bags to distribute, and the bags will eventually go to Nurdle UK to be reused. What a community! 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌
Meet the Monkseaton mum helping with nurdle clean up from her own home
Lou Shackleton is sourcing and distributing scaffolding mesh to help people make bags to pick up nurdles in North East beach cleans
chroniclelive.co.uk
Oh, and still almost no *national* media and political coverage… The Tyneside coastal communities, who have been doing back-breaking work round the clock to clear as many nurdles as possible, won’t get answers and a proper clean-up till this spill gets more attention. Read through thread for more.
Alison Stenning@alisonstenning.bsky.social · 7d agoLitany of failure here from Port of Tyne and companies involved in perhaps worst ever plastic pollution event in UK/Europe: No immediate containment of spillage No mention of spillage in press releases until day 4 *Still* no large-scale clear-up operation Nurdles found 20 miles N and S of Tyne
Litany of failure here from Port of Tyne and companies involved in perhaps worst ever plastic pollution event in UK/Europe: No immediate containment of spillage No mention of spillage in press releases until day 4 *Still* no large-scale clear-up operation Nurdles found 20 miles N and S of Tyne
Port of Tyne criticised over River Tyne plastic nurdle spill response
Port of Tyne says it acted to tackle the spillage of nurdles once it was aware.
bbc.co.uk
Alison Stenning@alisonstenning.bsky.social · last wk.“This incident is believed to be the largest recorded nurdle spill in Northern Europe and the UK.” @northwildlife.bsky.social
“This incident is believed to be the largest recorded nurdle spill in Northern Europe and the UK.” @northwildlife.bsky.social
Nurdle nightmare for the region’s coastline | Northumberland Wildlife Trust
Northumberland Wildlife Trust is deeply concerned by the recent nurdle spill affecting the North Sea coastline and marine environment.
nwt.org.uk
Alison Stenning@alisonstenning.bsky.social · last wk.Sharing again for more reach - A spillage of approx one billion (25 tonnes) of nurdles (plastic pellets) following a collision at the Port of Tyne is washing up on beaches from Northumberland to Sunderland, with North & South Tyneside hardest hit. Huge volunteer effort underway. Press release ⬇️
Sharing again for more reach - A spillage of approx one billion (25 tonnes) of nurdles (plastic pellets) following a collision at the Port of Tyne is washing up on beaches from Northumberland to Sunderland, with North & South Tyneside hardest hit. Huge volunteer effort underway. Press release ⬇️
Alison Stenning@alisonstenning.bsky.social · last wk.Some of the nurdle volunteers on the North Tyneside coast have written a press release (not me!) about the nurdle spill, the official response and the amazing community action. Please do share with journalists etc. online and offline. Contact details in the PR. docs.google.com/document/u/0...
So sad witnessing the wildlife today feeding on and around the nurdles on #NorthShields Fish Quay 1/2 Crows
Some of the nurdle volunteers on the North Tyneside coast have written a press release (not me!) about the nurdle spill, the official response and the amazing community action. Please do share with journalists etc. online and offline. Contact details in the PR. docs.google.com/document/u/0...
Listen to Sally McGee of Surf Yonder reflecting on the last week over on Instagram: www.instagram.com/reel/DbWLLl2...
Yonder on Instagram: "An update on where we are at with the community led clean up and what is still needed. A bit of an explanation as to why this mobilisation is essential right now and why we could...
86 likes, 10 comments - surfyonder on July 28, 2026: "An update on where we are at with the community led clean up and what is still needed. A bit of an explanation as to why this mobilisation is esse...
instagram.com
Alison Stenning@alisonstenning.bsky.social · last wk.Cleaning the nurdles on North Shields Fish Quay
An hour on the Fish Quay, working with my hands and a dustpan and brush. No idea how many nurdles this is. There are about 60 people working down here, all doing similar.
Alison Stenning@alisonstenning.bsky.social · last wk.Lots of action on the North Tyneside coast again today, trying to collect as many of the billion spilled nurdles as possible, in the absence of an organised, council/corporate-led effort. This is what the Fish Quay, right at the mouth of the Tyne looked like this morning (not my pics).
Damaged containers cleared of nurdles, but meanwhile a billion of them are washing up the Tyne, onto our beaches and into the sea. This is perhaps one of the biggest plastic pollution events in the UK. And yet there’s almost no national coverage.
Damaged containers cleaned of nurdles, Port of Tyne says
The Port of Tyne says the containers which spilled nurdles into the sea have been vacuumed.
bbc.co.uk
Lots of action on the North Tyneside coast again today, trying to collect as many of the billion spilled nurdles as possible, in the absence of an organised, council/corporate-led effort. This is what the Fish Quay, right at the mouth of the Tyne looked like this morning (not my pics).
