Bill Bryson: why this Womble is going to war
From The Telegraph 16/04/2008
As he launches an anti-litter campaign, author Bill Bryson tells Alice Thomson of his love affair with Britain
With his small, round glasses, corduroy jacket, contented girth and ruffled beard, he looks like a cross between Uncle Bulgaria and Margaret Thatcher as he walks down Southwark Street in south London, picking up crisp packets.
Bill Bryson: 'We need to appreciate this island a bit more'
But the figure shuffling towards me is in fact the best-selling travel author and candidate for national treasure, Bill Bryson.
Bryson is obsessed by litter. He can't walk past a piece of chewing gum without getting out his penknife to scrape it off of the pavement. "It gives me a sense of achievement," he says.
He is kept awake at night by the thought of drivers throwing apple cores out of their cars. So, last summer, he devised a cunning plan: he became the new President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, just so he could "get my hands on the headed notepaper and start writing to politicians".
Today, he moves into the next phase, launching a three-year campaign to "Stop The Drop", aimed at eliminating stray rubbish and casual fly-tipping.
From The Telegraph 16/04/2008
As he launches an anti-litter campaign, author Bill Bryson tells Alice Thomson of his love affair with Britain
With his small, round glasses, corduroy jacket, contented girth and ruffled beard, he looks like a cross between Uncle Bulgaria and Margaret Thatcher as he walks down Southwark Street in south London, picking up crisp packets.
Bill Bryson: 'We need to appreciate this island a bit more'
But the figure shuffling towards me is in fact the best-selling travel author and candidate for national treasure, Bill Bryson.
Bryson is obsessed by litter. He can't walk past a piece of chewing gum without getting out his penknife to scrape it off of the pavement. "It gives me a sense of achievement," he says.
He is kept awake at night by the thought of drivers throwing apple cores out of their cars. So, last summer, he devised a cunning plan: he became the new President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, just so he could "get my hands on the headed notepaper and start writing to politicians".
Today, he moves into the next phase, launching a three-year campaign to "Stop The Drop", aimed at eliminating stray rubbish and casual fly-tipping.
1 comment:
Re: Notes on A Dirty Island, this might be of interest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGppUzvwRPs
The programme synopsis is below:
Writer Bill Bryson speaks of his outrage at how people in the UK treat their surroundings like a rubbish tip, and castigates our apparent inability to walk or drive anywhere without leaving a trail of litter. Although Britain has got some of the toughest laws on litter in Europe, Bill questions why they don’t seem to be enforced.
Notes on A Dirty Island can be seen on BBC One at 8.30 on Monday 11 August
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