How can we stop the litterbugs

The disfigurement it creates becomes increasingly evident during the tourist season, say from Easter until the end of October, when a large amount of litter is thrown out of cars and caravans, dropped by ramblers or left behind by campers and people having picnics.

Recently, I found the remains of a picnic fire in a forest, along with two dozen empty beer cans.

I live in a tourist area and once the tourists emerge from their winter slumbers, the amount of rubbish on verges, in hedgebacks, on footpaths and in roadside ditches rapidly multiplies to aggravating proportions. No amount of nagging or grumbling seems to deter the louts responsible.

Among such despoilers, there appears to be no sense of personal pride or responsibility or a desire to leave the countryside in pristine condition.

However, a recent report shows that it is not only the countryside which is suffering from this social disease. Our beaches are also becoming dumping grounds for personal litter.

A survey by the Marine Conservation Society reports that rubbish has increased by a massive 99pc since a survey conducted ten years ago, and this is also 29pc higher than only two years ago.

The report makes reference to the "throw away culture" which is now rife among tourists.

I do not think anyone would disagree with the Marine Conservation Society's call for more effective laws to deter litter dumping, also with their plea for the incidence of unnecessary plastic wrappings to be reduced.

A lot of litter dropped by tourists consists of plastic wrappings from things like sandwiches and sweets, but other things get thrown away, like old clothes, shoes, magazines, car batteries and even large things like bedsteads and sofas.

One suggestion is that beach wardens, lifeguards and even coastguards be given powers to impose on-the-spot fines for litter louts.

This is not a new idea because a similar system is now operating successfully in the City of York. Street Environment Officers, employed by York Council, have the power to impose £50 fines for anyone seen dumping litter - failure to pay the fine will result in a court appearance.

Likewise, drivers who throw litter from their vehicles may be caught on camera by Redcar and Cleveland Council and fined £50.

Much of the street litter in that area comes from those who throw away wrappings from fast food outlets, such as cartons, pizza boxes and bottles, not forgetting fish and chip papers or plastic containers in all shapes and sizes.

The snag with grumbles of this kind in newspapers and magazines is that most of the perpetrators do not read newspapers or magazines or, if they do, they ignore our words.

So how do we persuade them to be more socially responsible? Should we threaten them with hefty penalties if they misbehave, or should we try to use reason and education? Carrot or stick?

It's a question that needs to be answered, not only from the litter dumping perspective, but also for other anti-social reasons.

The last village along the downward route of the River Swale is called Myton. Even though it is probably the only village of that name in Britain, it is distinguished by being known as Myton on Swale.

It lies in the Vale of York, almost at the point where the Swale and Ure merge to become the Ouse.

That point is a couple of miles or so to the east of Boroughbridge and when Joseph Morris compiled his guide The North Riding of Yorkshire in 1906, he described Myton as a very uninteresting village.

I disagree with him because, in spite of its modest size, it does boast something of great interest - the famous White Battle of 1319.

Not many people know about this battle and, in fact, my Ordnance Survey map marks the site but gives the date as 1322. I think this is wrong because that is the date of another battle in nearby Boroughbridge. Most of my sources confirm the White Battle date as 1319.

Before I refer to the battle, however, I should mention Myton's other noteworthy claims. One is that the Swale at this point is possibly the place where St Paulinus baptised thousands of people into the Christian faith - some believe it was a short distance upstream at nearby Brafferton, while others maintain it was many miles away in The Swale, a sea channel which lies between the Isle of Sheppey and the mainland of Kent.

In fact, Paulinus, who had been sent to England by the Pope in AD 601, became Bishop of Rochester in Kent, where he eventually died.

The church of St Mary at Myton dates from the thirteenth century and its tower is built inside the church. The church contains various memorials to the Stapleton family, who occupied nearby Myton Hall since the time of Charles I.

For all its modesty, Myton has a place in history which arises from the famous battle fought here between the English and the Scots on September 30, 1319.

The Scots, commanded by Douglas and Randolph, had invaded Yorkshire with a trained army of 15,000 men and had destroyed much of the outskirts of York.

Their purpose was to capture Queen Isabella and hold her to ransom, but news of this had earlier reached the Archbishop of York, William de Melton.

He had sent the Queen to safety in Nottingham, so the Scots left angry and empty-handed.

Staying in York at that time were several important churchmen, including John Hotham, the Bishop of Ely and Chancellor of England, and the Abbot of Selby.

Archbishop Melton persuaded the Lord Mayor of York to issue an order for these churchmen to raise an army to gain revenge on the Scots. The order was known as posse comitatus and so it was that an assorted crew of some 10,000 badly-equipped men left York in pursuit of the marauders.

The York army consisted of little more than an untrained rabble of labourers and peasants with no trained soldiers, but among them were lots of monks, priests, choristers and lay workers who had been recruited from York Minster.

No doubt fired by some kind of religious fervour, they began their hunt for the Scots "walking stealthily by night that they might better pounce upon the enemy."

They caught up with the Scots at Myton on Swale, but the wary Scots were waiting. The battlefield was a triangle of land between the Ure and the Swale. The hapless York soldiers were driven on to a high point of the land with a deep river at each side and those who were not slaughtered were thrown off and drowned.

It was a massacre. The ruthless Scots wiped out the amateur York army and among the thousands of dead were 300 monks in their white habits. Why they fought in habits is not known, but the sight of their bloodstained clothing caused this battle to become known as the White Battle of Myton.

Among the dead was the Lord Mayor of York, Sir Nicholas Flemming, but the loss of priests was such that it took 50 years for the stalls of York Minster to regain their numbers.

The battle has also been called the Chapter of Myton due to the large number of religious people involved and, alternatively, the Battle of Myton Meadow.

As I pen these notes, the results of a national poll have just been published. It concerns wild flowers which have been selected to represent each of our counties, but the outcome has upset lots of traditional Yorkshire people because, according to the poll, the folk of Yorkshire have selected the harebell (campanula rotundifolia).

For some peculiar reason, the white rose has been rejected. Varieties of white rose do grow in the wild, such as the burnet rose and field rose, so it is puzzling as to how or why Yorkshire folk could have rejected their famous and historic emblem.

Lancashire, on the other hand, is retaining its red rose, while County Durham has selected the spring gentian.

I must admit I am baffled by this, chiefly because I knew nothing of this poll, which was conducted by a conservation charity called Plantlife. Most certainly, I did not register any kind of vote. I wonder who did?