News

The habitat improvement project at Low Foxfield, on Spannel Beck in South Cumbria is now complete. Approximately 475 metres of Spannel Beck, a tributary of the River Winster is now protected from livestock poaching, sedimentation and nutrient enrichment. The project included 950 metres of fencing alongside the watercourse and native species tree planting to create natural river bank areas. We are currently looking to plant trees in the newly created riparian zone, which will help to slow the flow of…

We have installed 3 islands on the outer basin of Elterwater (close to Windermere) to a. provide nesting habitat for species such as Great Crested Grebe and b. to create floating vegetated habitat to aid in nutrient assimilation. In the coming weeks these can be planted with vegetation native to the hydrosere of Elterwater in preparation for the grebes during nesting season. These islands will be monitored to ensure they remain in position and to note down any use by…

South Cumbria Rivers Trust have arranged a soil workshop on 30th January 2020. The Healthy Soils; Resilient Farms workshop is a FREE event for farmers in the Staveley, Kentmere, Ings and Troutbeck areas. The workshop will be run by soil health specialist, agronomist and farmer, James Bretherton that promises to be extremely informative. It is to be held at the Lakeland Farm Visitor Centre in Ings. Please follow the link below for more information. HEALTHY SOILS; RESILIENT FARMS Flier Get in touch at…

Esthwaite Water is situated in South Cumbria, near Windermere. Not only is Esthwaite Water one of the best studied lakes in the world, it is also one of the most nutrient enriched lakes in the English Lake District. A project site was recently identified on the shore of Esthwaite water SSSI. This is a project area in which we are working to reduce sediment and nutrient input into the lake, aiming to improve water quality in the SSSI. At the…

South Cumbria Rivers Trust are currently working up a project that will require help from volunteers taking water samples around Arnside, Cumbria. Background Info; The WAMM project (Wholescale Approach to Marine Management) is a new 16 month project funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The aim of the project is to support a collaborative approach to the management of estuarine and coastal waters in and around Morecambe Bay (chosen as the primary pilot location). The three Catchment…

With the help of our Conserving Coniston and Crake team, South Cumbria Rivers Trust representatives attended Crosthwaite school monitoring session. At the beginning of 2019 a culvert of approximately 280 metres in length was removed by South Cumbria Rivers Trust in Crosthwaite, Cumbria. This project was the first in the UK to use funding from a European crowdfunding appeal led by WWF Netherlands and Dam Removal Europe. The culvert previously made 280 metres of the beck inaccessible to fish, aquatic…

South Cumbria Rivers Trust are working up several Natural Flood Management projects in the area, delivered as part of the national DEFRA programme – aimed at delivering an innovative Natural Flood Management (NFM) pilot across catchments in Cumbria. NFM is used to reduce flooding by working with natural features and processes to store or slow down flood waters. Techniques include; woodland creation, bank restoration and creating wetlands. Staveley has been listed by the Cumbria Strategic Flood Partnership as a Priority Community…

Some exciting news…South Cumbria Rivers Trust, in partnership with Groundwork; Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside are finalists for the Tesco Bags of Help centenary grant! If we succeed, we could win up to £25,000 for our project; LOVE MY RIVER-PASS ON PLASTIC. BUT, we cannot do this without you. With the help of a little token, you can vote for us in stores across Cumbria and Lancashire until 31st December 2019. Our project, Love my River – Pass on Plastic will help us…

Every year ‘Balsam Bashes’ are organised by volunteers and members of the Kent Catchment Partnership. Himalayan Balsam is a fast growing invasive non-native species and can be found in several areas in and around the the country. With the help of volunteers, we attempt to control the spread and eradicate the infestation through hard work, monitoring and repeat visits over several years. Some facts and figures from 2019: 18 work parties took place in the Kent catchment, plus a further…

South Cumbria Rivers Trust are currently out and about Electrofishing every week, during July-September. Jayne, has been visiting sites throughout the catchment with civilian and business volunteers to carry out our fish surveys. How does it work? A 50m stretch of river is chosen at each site and the following is recorded: average width depth riparian vegetation pH temperature conductivity The voltage and pulse width of the electrofishing equipment is then adjusted according to the recommended settings for the respective…