A giant-sized piece of litter has been removed from Llandudno’s Great Orme before it threatened marine life. The concrete-encased polystyrene block had washed up on a hard-to-reach shoreline and was slowly disintegrating.
Thought to be part of a damaged pontoon, its deterioration risked releasing millions of tiny polystyrene balls into the environment. Great Orme wardens decided it had to be removed – but they needed specialist help to navigate cliffs.
Offering support was a crack team assembled by working-at-height specialists GO Vertical. The company, led by Llandudno-based Matt Jones, trains mountaineers and helps film producers get equipment to difficult locations.
Recent assists have included HBO’s House of the Dragon. GO Vertical also supported 2025 movie The Gorge starring Miles Teller, Anya Taylor-Joy and Sigourney Weaver – it was partly filmed in Llandudno and Penrhyn Bay.
The concrete-encased polystyrene had deteriorated during winter storms -Credit:GO Vertical
Matt said: “I’ve climbed the Great Orme since the late 1980s. It’s my stomping ground, so when the Orme wardens approached me, I was happy to help out on a voluntary basis.
“It’s something we’ve done before at the Great Orme. A few years ago a large team of volunteers lifted 60 fly-tipped tyres from the shoreline using a zip line.
“And earlier this year we removed orange plastic fencing from below Marine Drive.” Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
Once broken up, smaller polystyrene pieces were lifted up cliffs using a zip line -Credit:GO Vertical
As the giant polystyrene block was located below cliffs, manual removal wasn’t possible. A tensioned rope system was an option – but only if the rectangular block was broken into bite-size pieces.
For this, the wardens provided a jackhammer and generator. They also supplied a powered tracked wheelbarrow for shifting larger sections.
But before they could start work, the wardens received an emergency call-out.
“A goat kid was reported stuck on TramStation Crag (a limestone outcrop above the Great Orme tramline),” said Matt.
“Its mother was nearby but the kid was 30ft up and it needed rescuing. A team of three abseiled down and, once retrieved, the kid was checked over by a team member who happens to be a vet. It was an unexpected wildlife rescue!”
A volunteer vacuums more debris -Credit:GO Vertical
Once the polystyrene block had been broken up, and sections lifted up cliffs via a zip wire, there was one final job. For this, a garden blower/vacuum was needed.
“All the small polystyrene pieces and individual balls had to be cleaned up,” said Matt. Sign up now for the latest news on the North Wales Live Whatsapp community
“So we literally Hoovered the shoreline. We can’t guarantee we found every last ball but by the time we finished it was close to being a zero impact job.
“Overall it was a great collaborative effort. We did it because we love the area and wanted to give something back.”
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