Young people are the river guardians of the future. That’s why, each year, we work with hundreds of local primary school pupils through our outdoor education projects to help spark a lifelong love of rivers. To do this, we use a mix of national curriculum approved classroom activities and fun outdoor sessions involving tree planting, …
Outdoor Education; Inspiring the next generation of River Heroes Read More »
Ribble Valley residents are one step closer to the designation of their very own Bathing Water site thanks to the Ribble Rivers Trust’s Safe to Splash campaign. In an announcement this week the Government shared plans to designate the largest ever number of new bathing water sites. In total there are 27 new sites that …
Bathing Water Designation to Ensure Ribble Valley River is ‘Safe to Splash’ Read More »
Rivers across Lancashire and North Yorkshire are receiving a very welcome boost thanks to funding from the Defra £25m Natural Flood Management Fund, which is managed by the Environment Agency. Ribble Rivers Trust, who will be managing the project alongside various partners including Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Heidelberg Materials, and Downham Estate, have been …
Community Catchments: Empowering People, Fighting Floods Read More »
In a move towards greater sustainability, Ribble Rivers Trust are proud to announce the establishment of another groundbreaking community tree nursery at Grange Community Gardens in Preston. This innovative initiative is designed to transform Lancashire’s landscape whilst engaging the community to secure a greener future for Lancashire’s woodlands. Currently, the majority of the tens of thousands of trees …
Growing Lancashire’s Future: Tree Nurseries Promise New Trees For Lancashire Read More »
Ribble Rivers Trust is embarking on an exciting project to restore the banks of Hasgill Beck, near Stocks Reservoir and Gisburn Forest. The Hasgill brash bundling project aims to combat severe erosion and enhance the natural beauty and biodiversity of the area. Located in the picturesque landscape of the Forest of Bowland, this project aims …
Restoring Hasgill Beck: A Brash Bundling Project for Healthy Rivers Read More »
An epic three-year river engineering project has drawn to a successful close this summer. The Opening Up The River Douglas (OUR Douglas) project, delivered by Lancashire based charity Ribble Rivers Trust, has seen the modification or removal of eight river blocking barriers and weirs in the River Douglas catchment. OUR Douglas commenced work in 2020 …
Breaking down barriers in the River Douglas Catchment Read More »
Ribble Rivers Trust has benefited from a £15,000 grant from UK educational charity The Ernest Cook Trust, which is aimed at helping get young people outdoors. Spread across three years, the grant is helping to fund the salary of an Outdoor Learning Officer to run the Coastal Explorers Project. The project will engage with hundreds …
Ernest Cook Grant; Helping Young People Connect With Nature Read More »
In the UK, we have over 600 bathing water sites, but just two of those are inland bathing waters.
Earlier last year Ribble Rivers Trust launched Safe to Splash. Our campaign for bathing water status. Ribble Rivers Trust submitted our application back in October and our aim is to secure bathing water status for a short stretch of the River Ribble where it passes through Clitheroe. The site is known as Edisford Bridge.
An exciting new river restoration project is now underway on the Lancashire and North Yorkshire border. The project, which is based near Halton West, aims to restore and re-wiggle a 144 meter section of Ged Beck to make way for a more natural river system.
Today’s children are tomorrow’s river guardians- that’s why primary education programmes like Trout in the Classroom are so important to us!
Our Rivers in the Classroom education programme brings freshwater science into schools in Lancashire and across the Ribble Catchment.
Our latest NFM, or Natural Flood Management, project is due to start this spring.
As the name suggests, NFM is a natural way of reducing flood risk. Whilst it’s not sufficient to prevent flooding in towns and cities (unless combined with other projects), NFM is great for reducing flood risk on a smaller scale.
In October, we held our first official ‘River Blitz’ as part of the Catchment Systems Thinking Cooperative (CaSTCo) project.
This project sees the Rivers Trust working alongside Ofwat to implement a national, standardised approach to water quality monitoring through citizen science by testing methodology and data management with 10 local Rivers Trusts across England.
With thanks to a grant from the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, our Education and Engagement Officer has been able to create a brand new education programme for Lancashire primary schools.
Each school taking part receives one session per half term- that’s six sessions in total for each school over the year. Water + Wellness mirrors the aims of HEAL in its activities.
Earlier this year we ran a consultation and asked you for your opinions on how Pleck Meadows should be managed.
Lots of you shared your thoughts and opinions, helping us to create a management plan and shape the future of this site.
Now, work is being carried out on the footpaths, and the wider Pleck Meadows site.
Pottery Terrace is one of eight fish passes that are being created by Ribble Rivers Trust as part of the Our Douglas project.
Pottery Terrace Weir lies in a walled and concrete lined channel. It’s not clear when the weir was created, but it appears on maps as far back as 1909.
After over 100 years this part of the river is now passable thanks to our new rock ramp!
Our fish monitoring team surveyed 294 sites between June and October!
Our surveys are carried out to monitor fish numbers, particularly salmonids, looking for the young of year.
This helps us to gauge the health of our rivers. It also means we can look for the areas which are doing well, and the areas which seem to be in poorer health.
The River Douglas is in a poor state and fails to meet “Good Ecological Status”.
A major reason for this is the area’s industrial heritage, specifically weirs.
Most of them no longer serve a purpose, and actually cause issues for wildlife, so we’re working to remove them with 6 of 8 major barriers already gone!
Ribble Rivers Trust has begun a project to plant more than 11,000 new trees in Lancashire with the aim of improving water quality. Ribble Rivers Trust has been funded by United Utilities to create new woodlands at Sabden, Samlesbury, and the Forest of Bowland as part of the company’s innovative Catchment Systems Thinking (CaST) approach …
Our consultation has now ended, and we’ve collected and collated the results of the surveys. We’d like to thank everyone that took part in the survey and helped to shape the future of this area. You can find out more about the project by clicking here. Consultation Results One of the conservation plans for the …
Langden Brook is one of the not so hidden gems in the Ribble catchment. A tributary of the River Hodder, this area is one of the few remaining strongholds for salmon. It is also an important part of our drinking water infrastructure. As part of the Stocks Reservoir network of watercourses and abstraction points, Langden …
Citizen science is a really important part of our work. Like all of our volunteers, these specially trained groups include people from a wide range of backgrounds who all share one thing in common- a passion for nature and the outdoors. Together, they take part in training courses and events, learn about the natural world …
