Action for River Kennet Newsletter 42 SPRING 2020 SPRING 2020 42

Action for the River Kennet River talk A PARTNERSHIP OF PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT THE KENNET

Time to bring back the beavers? ARK’s 2019 AGM attracted a packed audience to learn about beaver reintroduction in the UK.

they are already in Somerset, Gloucestershire, Dorset and Devon so it is likely only a matter of time before they reach the Kennet and the Pang. What is certain is that we need effective funded management to allow the beaver and people to co-exist again, reaping the benefits of their natural engineering skills without threatening the homes and infrastructure that have been built since beavers were last here.

Many thanks to our visiting speakers, James Wallace (Beaver Trust), Ben Goldsmith (Conservative Photo credit: Nick Upton Environment Network), Chris Jones (Woodland Valley Farm Truro), With re-wilding gaining so much their landscape to suit their own Jonah Tosney (Norfolk Rivers Trust) traction and increasing evidence needs. In the process they create and to all those who contributed to of beaver benefits, it was a good wildlife habitat, much as we might the debate both during the meeting opportunity to hear first-hand from try to do on protected sites’. and afterwards. people living alongside beavers and to think about the implications All our speakers confirmed Charlotte Hitchmough of reintroducing this large (think that where beavers have been spaniel-sized) vegetarian mammal reintroduced in trial enclosures the to the Kennet. result has been improved water quality, reduced downstream flood Beavers were hunted to extinction risk, increased fish population and around 400 years ago but until then an explosion of biodiversity. And ARK’s Summer played a critical part in shaping that’s apart from the joy of seeing our rivers by tree felling and dam a large native mammal in the wild, BBQ building. It’s probably thanks to which has created a new form of Don’t miss this fabulous fundraising beavers that species we value like tourism. event courtesy of Ramsbury Estates. ranunculus, starwort, brown trout, It’s on Saturday 4 July and you can eels and water vole found habitat Currently there are no beavers find all details on the back cover. that suited their needs. As Peter in Wiltshire or Berkshire Marren observes ‘Beavers modify (either enclosed or wild), but Action for River Kennet Newsletter 42 SPRING 2020 PAGE 2

News from the Chairman A change of government; leaving Europe; new legislation; new ways of supporting farming: there’s lots happening.

It’s not only a fresh government, but which will in turn lead to a thriving, devastating effects of plastics we also have a brand-new secretary self-reliant and resilient farming on our natural environment. of state for the Environment in the sector where there are trusting and Improve air quality by form of George Eustice. In her first productive relationships between • introducing measures to reduce week in the job, back in July, his farmers and government’. pollution. predecessor Theresa Villiers spoke on Countryfile Live about the joy of The public goods it seeks to see • Restore and enhance nature escaping to one of the UK’s many protected include: through ‘biodiversity net gain’. stunning rural landscapes, saying... • clean and plentiful water • Transform the way we manage “Whether it’s the towering fells of • mitigation of, and adaptation to our waste through powers that the Lake District or the moors and climate change. enable us to require producers beaches of Northumberland or the • thriving plants and wildlife to take more responsibility. rolling fields of Wiltshire dotted with beauty, heritage and • Protect precious water monuments dating back millennia. I engagement. • resources by increasing count myself truly blessed to live in a sustainable water management country which contains such superb Now we come to the Environment through securing long-term, natural beauty.” Bill that aims to replace the resilient water and wastewater EU’s nature laws with a new services. Let us hope Mr Eustice also ‘green watchdog’ that ensures remembers the natural beauty environmental protection as we The water industry regulator, when he’s making his future leave the EU. In the government’s OFWAT, had insisted that water decisions. own words the Bill will seek to: becomes cheaper. This reduces the ability of water companies to Ensure the environment is at the To new legislation... • invest in essential infrastructure heart of all government. to reduce pollution, leaks and Already this year we have seen the • Establish a new independent over abstraction. Reducing water return of the Agriculture Bill. It will Office for Environmental bills makes it harder to persuade pave the way for the replacement Protection to scrutinise everyone to use less. of the European Common environmental policy and law, Agricultural Policy (CAP) with a new investigate complaints and take Finally, you can have your say on Environmental Land Management enforcement action. the future of the water environment system (ELM). by taking part in the Environment • Place the bold ambition of our Agency’s ‘Challenges and Choices’ The Department for Food and Rural flagship 25 Year Environment consultation which runs until 24 Affairs (Defra) tell us it’s their vision Plan on a statutory footing and April 2020. to have a scheme by 2024 that create powers to enhance nature supports agriculture by ‘rewarding and habitats and combat the Richard Clarke public goods with public money, Action for River Kennet Newsletter 42 SPRING 2020 PAGE 3

Groundwater The Kennet begins its life emerging out of the ground as clear, cool springs.

The quantity of spring water available to feed the river depends on the groundwater level in the aquifer (combined with how much water we abstract from the same aquifer). In turn, the ground water level depends on how much rain we receive and when it falls. Rain in the spring and summer is quickly used by plants and trees, and evaporated by the sun, but autumn and winter rain soaks down into the aquifer.

Autumn 2019 was wet, and the rain fell at a good time for aquifer recharge. October 2019 was the second wettest in the Kennet area since 1985 and in the boreholes at Rockley and Draycot Foliat we saw some of the fastest groundwater Photo: Water from the new Hungerdown recharge ever recorded. Stream (top) runs cleanly through permanent pasture, but at Shalbourne (right) a winterbourne in a ploughed field is full of sediment.

quickly spring to life, colonised by been East Kennet, Aldbourne, invertebrates that have remained Lambourn, Froxfield, Bay Bridges dormant in the bed sediments, and Shalbourne. Thames Water try and providing important spawning to keep on top of the problem by Graph: Aquifer level in metres at habitat for wild brown trout. pumping sewage into tankers and Rockley (solid black line) compared with However, wet winters can be driving it to treatment works which maximum (purple) and minimum (pink) recorded since 1932. difficult to manage. After two dry have capacity. Despite significant winters some farmers were caught investment in sewer lining in out, having ploughed and seeded Aldbourne and East Kennet the In many ways this is good news. A fields with winter wheat, only to problem of sewer overload persists, full aquifer sets the river up with see rivers spring up in the middle of polluting our streams. strong reserves to keep it flowing the crop, washing valuable soil and through the summer. Furthermore, seed downstream. Please report pollution to the when the winterbournes are Environment Agency on 0800 flowing, the river network almost The sewer network, too, has 807060 and Thames Water on doubles as streams stretch as struggled. Sewers are not sealed 0800 316 9800; you can also report far upstream as Winterbourne units and the influx of groundwater muddy runoff from fields and tracks Monkton, Upper Lambourn and has overwhelmed the capacity via our Muddy Walks App. There Draycot Foliat; and new tributaries of pumping stations and sewage are details of how to do this on our like the Hungerdown Stream treatment works, flushing raw website www.riverkennet.org feeding the Og emerge from dry sewage onto the street and into valleys. These winterbournes the river. Particularly hard-hit have Charlotte Hitchmough Action for River Kennet Newsletter 42 SPRING 2020 PAGE 4

Corporate Fundraising As a charity it’s always top of our priority list.

It’s competitive and it’s increasingly important they are to all of us. The and sustainable and who chose to difficult to find ‘pots’ of money that programme also teaches children support ARK by hosting a 5-course not only cover the projects we need the importance of using water ‘Supper Club’ evening. As well as to complete, but also contribute wisely and how they themselves can being a delicious meal, the event towards our core running costs. make a difference. Thank you to all raised £450 for ARK. Many thanks to the Co-op customers and staff who Nathan and his team for hosting a To do our work we rely on charitable made this possible. fabulous evening. grants, government grants, funding from catchment partners Corporate Membership like Thames Water, local support, individual donations, our members, In April 2020 we will be launching and corporate donations. a new Corporate Membership Scheme which will allow companies Co-op to pay an annual subscription and receive in return benefits Co-op Local Community Fund such as acknowledgement on our offers its members the chance to website and in our annual report, donate to local causes when they the opportunity to sponsor a shop in Co-op stores. Each member newsletter or our AGM, advice on can select the cause they want to water stewardship and access to donate to via www.coop.co.uk/ our employee volunteer days. If you local-causes would like more information please Sarsens Restaurant contact [email protected] Last year the Co-op members in the Reading area raised an incredible Sarsens Bar and Restaurant based If you are involved in a company £8,000 to enable ARK to take their on the High Street in Marlborough and have an idea of how you can River School education programme is a fantastic example of support help to support our work, please into schools in the area. The we receive from local businesses. get in touch – we’d love to hear programme is aimed at primary Sarsens are an independent from you! age children and gives an insight to restaurant who pride themselves our rivers, how they work and how on their food being seasonal, local Linda Nemeth

Twelve years of loyal service at Stonebridge Wild River Reserve

After 12 years of loyal service, the boardwalk at our Stonebridge Wild River Reserve was in need of little bit of TLC from our team of endlessly versatile volunteers. Action for River Kennet Newsletter 42 SPRING 2020 PAGE 5

Stonebridge Wild St Michael’s rain garden was River Reserve unveiled on It’s nine years since ARK and Marlborough Town 15 November Council jointly purchased Stonebridge Meadow The pupils and staff invited parents, volunteers, members of ARK and Wendy Allen (Garden Designer) along with the Reverend Sue Rodd who gave a blessing.

Alison Edmonds, Chair of Aldbourne Parish Council, performed the official opening and Simon Knighton, Chair of the Governors, Photo Top: Kingfisher at Stonebridge thanked everyone involved in the Photo Left: Tree Creeper seen from the boardwalk rain garden project which had amazing support from the local In September 2019 we were again up on a weekly basis by one of community, Thames Water, Thames awarded the highest accolade our volunteers and bullfinches, Rivers Trust and The Revere Trust. of Outstanding by South West in nuthatches, long-tailed tits and tree The children have already been Bloom. Lady Emma Fellowes (Patron creepers have all become favourites enjoying the new play features of SW in Bloom) visited the reserve with visiting photographers. while learning how the garden in July and met Project Officer Anna slows the flow of rain to our rivers Forbes and many of our volunteers. Japanese students visiting and how important it is to conserve Marlborough spent a summer our water. Kingfisher successfully bred on site afternoon with us, learning and an adult otter with two pups about chalk streams and planting The project was our most ambitious was caught on our camera trap. In stream-water crowfoot and purple rain garden so far but the feedback November a white willow tree was loosestrife. More recently, our from the children and their teachers planted at the end of the wetland volunteers have been carrying out has proved it’s been a great success. by the Marlborough Dyslexia the annual hedge and wetland Association to mark the special maintenance. Linda Nemeth input of Gill Wallis and Janet Louth. Looking forward, we are planning River Schools have continued to to build a new footbridge that will be in demand, with school, cub, create a circular walk from the end brownie, beaver and scout groups of the wooden boardwalk across the having a great time developing river into the water meadow. their appreciation of the Kennet and the surrounding land. One of our members has also kindly donated hundreds of fritillary bulbs A donation last year enabled our which we will be planting this volunteers to install woven-willow season. bird watching panels by the bird A nuthatch spotted near the Stonebridge feeder tree. The feeders are filled Anna Forbes bird feeder. Photo credit: A Thompson Action for River Kennet Newsletter 42 SPRING 2020 PAGE 6

Little Bedwyn ARK Trout and Eels Community Twelve years and counting! Project

A great improvement on hard engineered banks!

ARK recently led a project with Little Bedwyn Playing Field Trust. They’d been in touch wanting advice on their stretch of the Dun, which led to four days of community river restoration.

It’s been a real pleasure to see how enthusiastic the villagers have been to find out more about and help restore their river, as well as seeing the riverbed emerge:

“When I was volunteered to help in the project to restore the river Dun in my home village of Little Bedwyn, it Launched in 2008, the programme a trout’s diet into the classroom. was with some shame that l realised I is continuing to inspire primary We discuss where our water comes knew very little about the existing rich school children to value and enjoy from, how to save it, the impacts diversity of flora, fauna and wildlife their local rivers, what lives in them of abstraction and how to prevent and how it would be enhanced by this and (above all) how they can help pollution. work. Anna and her hard-working preserve them. team of lovely volunteers from ARK Geoffrey the stuffed ARK otter has welcomed me and a small number of This year we’ve set up tanks of gained celebrity status and children local villagers and patiently taught newly hatched trout in school ask which visit will Geoffrey be us the skill and hard work involved classrooms at Whitley Park coming to? He helps us explain in the art of faggot-making, before (Reading), St Nicholas Junior School apex predators and food chains. we helped to restore the river banks, (Newbury), Ogbourne Primary, install the faggots in the river and Inkpen Primary and Shalbourne Trout in School and Eels in the plant a huge number of water-loving Primary schools. Classroom are part of our Water plants. Matters project currently funded by We support classes for over three Thames Water. We would also like to Nearly three months on and we are months with hands on workshops thank Berkshire Trout Farm for their already starting to see the benefits in which the children learn about ongoing support with this project. of all this hard work and my thanks the brown-trout life cycle, their go to Anna and her merry band of requirements to survive and the ARK Eels in the Classroom 2020 volunteers for helping us to start pressures their rivers are under. starts after the Easter holidays, saving our river! “ Our Invertebrates in the Classroom when we will be getting five more workshop has also received schools in the Kennet catchment Hugo Shipley amazing feedback from students, excited about the critically Little Bedwyn resident teachers and parents. This is the endangered European eel. day we take live samples of the tiny creatures that form much of Anna Forbes Action for River Kennet Newsletter 42 SPRING 2020 PAGE 7

Restoring the Lower Kennet Local angling clubs have been working together with ARK to improve their river.

Following a sewage pollution • Selective removal and natural flows, and gravel incident on the Silchester Brook management of marginal trees cleaning (Central Association of in 2014, Thames Water and the to increase light for macrophytes London and Provincial Angling Environment Agency agreed on and reduce bank erosion on the Clubs, Thatcham Angling an Environmental Undertaking in Kennet below Hambridge in Association and Reading and reparation. A proportion of this Newbury (Civil Service Angling District Angling Association). money was ‘to be disbursed in Society). small scale improvement grants to All four projects are now complete angling clubs and fisheries in the • Re-profiling and extending an and will hopefully assist in halting Kennet Valley to improve angling existing drainage channel to the decline in some coarse fish opportunities and outcomes’. provide a fish refuge during species on the lower river. high-water events on the Holy The fund has been administered by Brook at Southcote (Prospect Although the fund was administered Kennet Valley Fishery Association Angling Club). by KVFA, ARK’s expertise, through (KVFA) with the emphasis on • Restoration of an historic oxbow Lower-River Co-ordinator Martin improving recruitment and survival meander of the Kennet at Kent, was a vital element in of coarse fish species such as barbel, Theale (Mr P Stratton) together achieving these aims. chub and dace on the lower river. with reconnection to the main channel to provide a fish refuge. Keith Johnson A Steering Group including Kennet Valley Fishery Association representatives from ARK chose four • Restoration of a carrier of the projects for funding: Kennet at Padworth to improve

Getting involved Just by being a member you are already helping us...

...but there are also ways in which tracks, drains, septic tanks and sewers. you can get more hands-on. If you see it, log it on our app.

You can help us to collect useful data Most recently launched is the ARK to bring about positive change, using Redd Spotter App, which allows our your smart phone. trained volunteer brown-trout nest spotters to log redds as they walk their Himalayan balsam is an invasive allocated stretch of the river. species that produces exploding seed pods that float downstream To set up the App on your phone and colonise other stretches of river. download Epicollect5 and look for the By reporting your sightings on the ARK Apps. ARK Himalayan Balsam Tracker App we can liaise with landowners and We would also like to thank Chilton deploy our volunteer teams to tackle Estate and their river keeper Sam the balsam. Marshall for hosting two redd spotting mornings earlier this year, giving an Heavy rainfall often causes pollution insight into the spawning season of to flow directly into our rivers. Our wild brown trout on the Kennet. ARK Muddy Walks App is a simple way of reporting runoff from fields, Anna Forbes Action for River Kennet Newsletter 42 SPRING 2020 PAGE 8

ARK People Dates for Your Diary Toby Hudson Saturday 4 July, 5–9pm We are delighted to announce that Ramsbury Estates are kindly hosting an exclusive fundraiser BBQ event for ARK at Since starting work as a river keeper their Shoot Lodge in Hungerford. It promises to be a very on the Avington Estate in 2015 I have special evening with stunning views and the Estate’s local really grown to admire the diversity of beef on the BBQ. the Kennet’s wildlife, not only in the water but in the surrounding lands. It holds a special place in the memories Tickets are £25 each and places are limited. A paying bar will of everyone who has worked and lived be open and there will be raffle tickets for sale. Advanced around it and this is something we booking and payment are essential. must strive to uphold. For more information and to buy your tickets contact [email protected] or call 07780381709. The deadline Sharon Pawlaczek for booking places is 24 June.

I am a Year 4 teacher at Marlborough To pay by bank transfer, include your surname and BBQ as St Mary’s where we have formed a a reference and email Anna to enable us to confirm your strong link with ARK. Our classes payment and places. Our details are: Action for the River visit Stonebridge and learn about Kennet, Sort Code 40 52 40, Account 00031368. the river with the help of Anna and her wonderfully knowledgeable For more details on this and other events see our website or volunteers. As a school, we thoroughly contact [email protected] enjoy and value our outdoor learning experiences and always look forward to the next visit.

Sara Bladon Websites Worth Visiting

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute The first beavers to of my engagement with ARK and the return to Essex for River Dun restoration. Confirmed over 400 years now townies like me don’t often get the live on the Spains chance to make faggots and spend the Hall Estate. Their morning in waders! Great fun … and home is a 4 hectare a lovely atmosphere among all those (9.8 acre) woodland, villagers who mucked in. surrounded by a special fence to keep them safe. They are being given free rein to build dams, flood areas and generally do what beavers do, with scientists collecting data on their impact. Learn how you can support ARK every time you shop online just visit: To find out more please visit: www.easyfundraising.org.uk/arkactionfortheriverkennet www.spainshallestate.co.uk/nfm_beavers

Members of ARK receive a copy of this We hope you have enjoyed this newsletter newsletter either by mail or email. and if you have any comments or ideas for Action for the River Kennet future issues, do please pass them on! Avebury, Elcot Park, Elcot Lane If you’d like to find out more about Marlborough SN8 2BG ARK, volunteering opportunities or membership please visit our website Edited by Rowan Whimster t: 01672 512 700 e: [email protected] at www.riverkennet.org or email ([email protected]) Registered charity number: 1120725 [email protected] Printed on 100% recycled paper