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Ribble Rivers Trust Blog

  • Himalayan Balsam Bash

    On Saturday 22nd July, nine fantastic volunteers braved the pouring rain to help Ribble Rivers Trust in their annual battle with the Himalayan balsam growing along Wigglesworth Beck. The ‘Balsam Bash’, as it’s known, involved pulling up the Himalayan balsam, to prevent it from setting seed and spreading further along the beck and throughout the…

  • Ribble Life Together – The Launch
    Ribble Life Together – The Launch

    The Ribble Life Together project is officially underway! Last week’s project launch event at Brockholes Nature Reserve was a huge success! The event celebrated securing £1.6 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund with a fun-filled, activity packed day which was supported by catchment partners and staff. We’ve been developing the Ribble Life Together project for…

  • Rivers in the Classroom (and as classrooms!)
    Rivers in the Classroom (and as classrooms!)

    Sat with a year 6 group watching sand martins return to the river’s eroded bank, swooping around picking freshly hatched riverflies from the air. One girl leans to her friend to say “I could watch these all day. I’m going to come down here at the weekend.” At that moment, a huge grin spread across…

  • Fish Passes: How we design them
    Fish Passes: How we design them

    By Mike Forty, Project Officer.   Restoring connectivity in rivers One of the big challenges we face in restoring freshwater ecosystems is re-connecting disjointed sections of streams which have been isolated by construction of in-stream structures. These structures can have profound effects on streams, acting as a barrier reducing, delaying, or altogether stopping fish or…

  • The Lower River Ribble
    The Lower River Ribble

    Soon after flowing under Mitton Bridge, the River Ribble grows considerably where it is joined by the Rivers Hodder and Calder.  The ‘Big Ribble’ continues through fertile pastoral land with a large amount of dairy farming and becomes tidal in Preston, Lancashire’s administrative centre.  The Ribble Estuary flows past the fertile Fylde plain on its…

  • The Upper River Ribble
    The Upper River Ribble

    The Upper Ribble catchment includes the source of the River Ribble at the confluence of Gayle Beck and Cam Beck near the famous viaduct at Ribblehead, in the shadow of the Yorkshire Dales three peaks in the National Park area above Horton-in-Ribblesdale.  This area is lightly populated and the main use of land is for…

  • River Hodder
    River Hodder

    The Hodder catchment includes some of the most attractive landscapes within the Ribble catchment. The whole area is within the designated Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the uplands are in the Bowland Fells SSSI. The catchment has a highly valued fishery and is popular with anglers. Stocks Reservoir and other upland…

  • River Calder
    River Calder

    The Calder catchment includes the main River Calder which originates from the moorlands surrounding Nelson, Burnley, Colne and Accrington, before joining the Ribble below Whalley.  All the tributaries that flow into the River Calder such as Pendle Water, Colne Water and Hyndburn Brook are also in this area.  Historically this area was heavily industrialised (mill…