River Worth Water Rangers

Rivers to Reef

Roots in the River: Celebrating Spring and connecting with nature!

Welcome to our blog series as part of our Roots in the River project, where we will be sharing different stories and experiences as the seasons pass by. First up – celebrating Spring and connecting with nature!

Having passed the spring equinox on Friday 20th March, spring is officially here! Over the past few weeks, we have seen shoots appearing, the first flowers of the year blooming, and that cold edge in the air has gone. Spring offers a great opportunity to get out into nature, connecting with the natural world to reap the well-being benefits it can offer. As the cold and shorter days of winter have passed, engaging communities with nature becomes easier, as many people are ready to be outside again, and the natural world becomes a more inviting place to be. Rivers are a great place to bring people together. For those of us involved in conservation work, surveying, or simply walking the same stretches of river regularly, spring is when everything starts moving again.

The wonderful North Beck in spring, near the Tinker Bridge in Keighley. © Anna Williams

Connecting with nature has been shown to provide us with many benefits, such as improved mental wellbeing, greater meaning and purpose in life, and more pro-environmental behaviours (University of Derby). Nature connection can be very simple, it is about the feelings you get whilst in nature. Spring is one of the easiest times of year to feel a real connection to nature, especially when walking by a river. The senses seem to wake up along with the landscape. The more time you spend in nature, especially in spring with longer days and warmer weather, the more you realise that nature connection comes from noticing small things, using your different senses to recognise them, and think about how this makes you feel. Standing by a river at this time of year, you are reminded that nature connection is not complicated, it involves simply being present long enough to see, hear, smell, and feel the natural world around you.

People wildlife spotting through binoculars on a river bank
Aire Rivers Trust staff connecting with nature and spotting wildlife at the RSPB St Aidens reserve on the River Aire. © Ruth McBain

Spring can also provide an excellent time to feel inspired! Through our Roots in the River project, we have recently run some river workshops with the Art4All groups at Keighley Healthy Living, where we explored different river themes and took inspiration from various photos and a visit to the River Worth. The groups are currently producing some wonderful river related artwork that will be displayed at an exhibition at the KHL centre on Saturday 25th April.

Blackthorn in flower with lake in the background

Next time you walk near your local river, or are passing by some nature, take time to notice and pay attention to any wildlife around you. You might notice new buds and shoots on ash, beech or oak trees, leaves emerging from alder, field maple and silver birch, or blossoms blooming on blackthorn and crab apple. Look out for pollinators too as they begin to move around to feed on newly grown flowers. Peacock, comma and red admiral butterflies can be spotted this time of year, and you could also spot beetles, spiders and ladybirds. You may also spot some special migrant bird visitors that return to the UK after spending the winter in warmer areas, including blackcap, chiffchaff and wheatear.

A beautiful blackthorn tree (Prunus spinosa) in full blossom. © Ruth McBain

At the Aire Rivers Trust, practical volunteer days, guided walks and surveying activities can help people notice things they might otherwise pass by. Why not join us on one of our very rewarding volunteer days, which run on Thursdays and Fridays, or help us with our citizen science monitoring programme. Find out how you could get involved to help nature here: https://aireriverstrust.org.uk/volunteer/

Other ways you can connect with nature this spring:

Find out more about the nature connection research here: https://www.derby.ac.uk/research/themes/zero-carbon/zero-carbon-nbs-research-centre/nature-connectedness-research-group/

Life in Leeds Becks

Weir Walkers

Citizen Science

Outfall Safari

Loadpit Beck gets some Love

John Franklin, our Better Becks Officer, has been working in Loadpit Beck facilitating the weir removal there.

What was the problem?

During walkovers as part of phase 1 of the ‘Better Becks’ Project, dozens of barriers to fish passage were identified within tributaries of the Middle Aire Catchment. On Loadpit Beck, a concrete ‘apron’ spanning the whole channel width was found. Installed as a reasonably over-engineered scour protection structure for the adjacent surface water outfall, this ‘apron’ has been stopping fish from progressing upstream to access good quality riparian habitat. The barrier was doing this in two ways, by creating an artificial drop in height in the channel, which many fish are unable to swim up, and by creating conditions for thin, laminar flow (like a sheet), which is challenging to swim up, as the water speed is increased, with little opportunities for rest.

 Phase 2 of the Better Becks project is all about addressing the problems found. The Fisheries Improvement Program, where funds are raised from angler’s rod licenses, was a great opportunity to cover the cost of this removal, as improving fish passage in Loadpit Beck would also help support fish populations in the fishable waters of the River Aire, 400m downstream.


…and the solution?

Aire River restoration project focusing on habitat preservation and environmental protection.

The works themselves, with permissions and support from Bradford Council and local landowners, were undertaken in August 2024 with Prof. Jonny Grey of the Wild Trout Trust being brought in as the principal contractor, alongside operational support from Ian and Pat from Atkinson Surfacing. Using handheld machinery, a new channel was cut into the right-hand half of the concrete apron. This was to enable retention of the scour-protecting function of the apron on the left side of the channel, below the outfall. Rather than cutting down to the channel bed, the material was cut away to retain a naturalistic channel within the concrete, to ensure fish passage, whilst also avoiding the risk of the channel scouring out in future. Sediment management was used downstream of the works to minimise fine concrete dust and silt mobilisation becoming an issue for aquatic organisms below the works.

Environmental workers in high-visibility gear undertake river habitat restoration.

As soon as the concrete breaker was lifted out of the water and the generator turned off, we all watched a Bullhead fish making the first journey up and above the barrier, enjoying the restful riffles of the new passable channel.

Monitoring the impact

Downstream of Loadpit Beck ART Volunteer Carolyn Robinson, who monitors river flies, says:

‘Riverfly Monitoring is a Citizen Science project that enables volunteers to gather information about the water quality of the River Aire and its tributaries. Following training and assessment, I was paired with another volunteer and together we monitored a site on Loadpit Beck that runs through Trench Meadows.

Once a month we ‘kick sample’ the site wearing wellies and using a standard net for 3 minutes, then check under large stones for 1 minute, ensuring comparable samples are taken over time. The sample is rinsed to remove unwanted debris, poured into a large tray and examined. We are looking for eight pollution-sensitive species of invertebrates that should be present in a healthy river. They are then transferred to an 8-segmented tray for counting, where we looking for 2 types of caddis flies, 4 types of up-wing flies, stoneflies, and freshwater shrimp. We also note the presence of other insects, snails or fish in the sample as well as any creatures that survive in polluted water eg leeches.

The number of each species is counted and allocated a score e.g. 1-9=1 point, 10-99=2 points, 100-999=3 points. At Trench Meadows our score has been between 8 and 14 points, we have identified all 8 target species, but not all on the same occasion. We are allocated a Trigger Level, and if our score falls below this there has possibly been a pollution event. We will check upstream of the site to look for any obvious pollution, changes in water colour etc and re-sample. If pollution is found or the score is still below the Trigger Level, the coordinator and local ecology contact are informed. Thankfully that has not happened at Trench Meadows, and it continues to be a healthy site.’

Outfall Safari – Leeds

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