Source: Environment Agency
What was formerly a reed-choked channel, damaged through unsympathetic dredging and cattle trampling its banks, has now been transformed by a programme of work, including:
• pulling back reeds and squashing them.
• extending meanders by installing faggot revetments and brash mattresses.
• coppicing overhanging willows to let light in and encourage macrophyte growth.
• laying gravel to protect the bank when cattle are drinking from the river.
• added 800 tonnes of gravel to raise the bed and create gradient to improve flow.
• Installing woody debris to provide fish with protection from predators.
Andy Thomas of the Wild Trout Trust said:
“I think the results achieved in the first phase of the project are a pretty good visual example of how we can radically change the shape of our rivers and therefore the way they perform. And at less than £50 per meter this project represents very good value.”
