No rest for the Wicked
April 6, 2009
What a week! Time flies…. when you work for RCCT! It was non-stop last week. We had a meeting on Monday with David Ingham (Ribble Valley Strategic Partnership Officer). We discussed how we may be able to get involved in the partnership. It was a really positive meeting and we have come away with plenty of project ideas that we hope we can work on with them. It’s so good to meet real “doers” with vision, and the drive to achieve the same goals as us! We then nipped up to Backridge farm to plan out our tree planting for the weekend just gone, splitting up the trees and getting the stakes and tree shelters ready.
Tuesday I had the latest invert results from Dennis Halstead, Brian Smith and Andy Pritchard from Colne, Pendle and the Calder. The results for the Calder were well below expected, and the others were much better. So I contacted Lee Collins the EA pollution officer for the Calder Catchment who was straight onto it, talking to the potential polluters in the area. We’re going to try and do a more targeted survey in the area in the near future to pin point the exact location of the problem. Unfortunately yet another consultation landed on my desk, this one on sheep dip, but although they can be pain staking it is so important to respond to these and make sure that the partners involved have the right ideas and information. I’m half way through, and hope to finish off this week. Sheep dip is such a devastating source of pollution that it is so important that we get on top of it, and stay there! We also managed to get round 4 of the 6 schools with Trout in the Classroom, and all are currently doing well. The fish have now absorbed there yolk sack and will soon start “swimming up” to feed.
Wednesday we visited St Leonard’s school in Padiham and were pleased to see another tank of fish in good condition. Afterwards I spent some time looking at a scheme to promote the small tributaries to the villages around the catchment. However the scale of the project is very daunting, and it may have to wait for some time, but it’s not like we’ve not got plenty other projects on! It can be so easy to get carried away with different schemes and projects to boost the trusts work and improve the rivers, when you’re as passionate as we are. However I must always remember that there is a limit to how much we can do.
That said I then switch to costing and preparing for another scheme (all be it smaller – but just as important) and hope to have details for all you salmon anglers very soon….
Thursday was an exciting day, an early start on the upper Ribble with a contractor who we’re working with on the Signal Crayfish “problem”, the weather was fantastic and the results of the site visit are exciting. We are now awaiting EA consent to go ahead with our trial. If we get consent we believe we have a technique that will be very effective, and allow us to deal with this once and for all. We then went up to Stocks Reservoir. The problem we have here is the escapee fish that after heavy rainfall, and once the water level is over the spill way make there way down stream. Last year there were several confirm captures of double figure rainbows and brownies from below stocks. This is a serious problem, the impacts from these fish can’t be highlighted enough, from predation of our wild fish fry, too forcing them out of the best lies exposing them to cormorants and other predators. The contractor is convinced he can solve this problem for us and we hope to work with all the parties involved find a solution. This will seriously help our salmon and trout populations in the Hodder.
Friday I spent the day with Jason Pusley of the EA pollution team. We did a targeted invertebrate survey around Clitheroe, and sampled nearly all the Brooks in the area. We had some mixed results. A miss connection had sewage into Shaw Brook – impacting inverts, and there seems to have been a significant problem in Mearly since our last survey. I have already had a report from Jason to say that he’s working on the problems and hope to have them resolved very soon. The local EA pollution team are really good, and we hope to continue to work with them in this way, as it seems to be paying real dividends!
Saturday I was out with four volunteers, and a dog, to start our tree planting, the weather wasn’t kind, but thanks to Gaynor Cole, Geoff Sewter, Peter Lewin, and Matt Schofield. We managed to get in over 500 trees. Stephen was on the case on Sunday with Alec Clements, Ryan Holmes, Mick Hodges, and Matt Schofield, and managed to beat our tally getting in 600 +! A good day was had by all on both days, and we achieved our target, and thanks to this we will be getting a £500 donation.
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