News

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…

Saturday 17th of August saw record numbers of visitors and competitors attend the all England stone skimming competition at Fell Foot, Newby Bridge. The weather was fantastic as was the skimming, with the longest throw of the day going to Alex Lewis. Sporting an injury, the reigning champ threw 98m (321ft) to win the male category, beating his record distance of 95m (311ft) in last years competition. The female category was won by Christina Bowen Bravery, throwing 41m (134ft), beating…

South Cumbria Rivers Trust are currently working on the Windermere Lake Action Plan to improve the key biodiversity/natural capital assets of the lake, its shore and the public benefits this provides, by identifying and implementing practical action. In order to do this, we are: Reviewing existing information and carrying out vegetation surveys to establish a baseline of extent and current condition. Comparing this with historic data to understand trends and highlight areas for concern. Developing a pipeline of receptor sites…

Saturday 20th July, Rydal saw volunteers descend for ‘Fight the Aliens’ Day, with huge numbers offering to lend a hand. SCRT staff and volunteers and Friends of the Lake District, organised a day of pulling Himalayan Balsam (HB); a vigorous and fast growing invasive non-native species. A number of landowners, farmers and partners were also involved and supportive of the event, including; Lowther Estates, Rydal Estates, C&S Hodgson, Lake District National Park Authority and the National Trust. A whopping 72…

Elterwater, in South Cumbria, is formed from three connected basins and is fed by both the Great Langdale Beck and Little Langdale Beck. It also suffers poor water quality. For approximately 40 years, up until the late 1990’s, the waste water treatment plant (WwTP) which served the village of Elterwater discharged treated water into the inner basin of Elterwater. Whilst this discharge was consented, it contributed considerable amounts of nutrients into the inner basin. Over the decades, these have accumulated…

Lucy Stevens, our MSc project researcher needs your help. As part of her ongoing research into Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS), local views and knowledge about bio-security, Lucy is asking for some assistance from users of Lake Windermere. Whether your an angler, swimmer or boat user, your assistance will provide insight into research into the introduction of INNS and efforts to keep Windermere free from invasive species to ultimately protect the environment, protect the water quality and water user’s health. If you…