News

This recent project in Staveley was completed in parnership with farmer John Nichol, South Cumbria Rivers Trust, the Environment Agency, Natural England, CaBA, Biffa Award and the EU LIFE IP ‘Natural Course’ project. Nearly 800 metres of man-made embankment and river protection were removed from a field just opposite the The Eagle and Child Inn, Staveley. This has enabled the river to reconnect with its floodplain and will help alleviate flooding in the village and further downstream.  Improvements to in-river habitats will also help spawning fish and the…

This project aims to re-naturalise a section of Dubbs Beck in the Kentmere catchment. This habitat is important for the endangered species such white-clawed crayfish and freshwater mussels. The project is a partnership between South Cumbria Rivers Trust, the Environment Agency, Natural England, the Biffa Award and the EU LIFE IP ‘Natural Course’ project. Watch a short film of the project here

SCRT, Environment Agency, Natural England and EU LIFE IP ‘Natural Course’ worked together on the Jumb Quarry project as part of the Cumbrian River Restoration Strategy. The project removed 9000 tonnes of mine spoil from the east Kentmere valley just south of the reservoir. The spoil heaps were the result of slate mining which ceased in the mid 1960’s. They continued to be a problem providing high sediment loads resulting in a concentration of sediment deposition in the river channel…

On the 5th September, we’ll be starting a project in the village of Staveley on the River Kent. The project aims to remove 800m of embankment which currently holds the river back away from the floodplain. This work will not only improve the river habitat by reducing scour on the river bed and gravels (therefore maintaining good fish spawning gravels) but it will allow flood waters to more easily spread across the floodplain and hopefully protect properties in the village…

The results are out for the 2016 All England Stone Skimming Championships! The weather was terrible but there were some excellent throws – well done to everyone who took part! RESULTS Under 11’s Boys: 1st Place – Jack Sumner (24m), 2nd Place – Jacob Trotman (16m), 3rd Place – Freddie Tomlinson (15m) Under 11’s Girls: No qualifying throws 11 to 16 years Boys: 1st Place – Ben Hooper (57m), 2nd Place – Ross Singleton (55m), 3rd Place – James Marsh…

We’ve just finished a project on Middlefield Beck (a tributary of the River Eea in Cartmel) where a 100m culverted section of the beck has been opened up after 150 years! The banks have been reseeded and trees planted to recreate a healthy Cumbrian beck. We’ll be monitoring the beck in the years to come to keep track of the bug and fish life that recolonises this new habitat!

It looks like all of last years Large Woody Debris (LWD) installations survived the December floods…. The large tree trunks were securely attached to the banks using steel cables. The branches provide a complex network of underwater crevices which serve as refuge and protection for fish from predators such as cormorants and mink.