Riverlands: working to restore the Lake District's waterways

27 June 2024

The difference a day makes

Work has been moving swiftly at Blea Tarn, with our rangers taking advantage of the dry weather to try and complete the main ditch blocking work this week.

It has been amazing to see the almost immediate impact that the project is having on the surrounding wetland – this photo shows the water being held behind one of the blockages just a day after being installed.

Not only is this restoring the wetland around the ditch, with many of the side channels now flowing again, but it’s also creating wonderful pool habitats. And we’ve already spotted lots of fish using the pools, clearly delighted to have somewhere to keep cool during the hot weather!

Once the digger work is finished, the rangers will be working with volunteers to install the final blockages by hand, made up of much lighter timber and brash bales. Keep checking back as we share more updates on progress.

20 June 2024

Barrow Beck project underway

Work has started on the Barrow Beck project along Derwent Water lakeshore. Here, the Riverlands team are removing a section of embankment as the river meets the lake. This will allow the water to flow out across the fields and encourage a natural alluvial fan to develop. Alluvial fans are a rare feature in the Lake District.

Because taking down the embankment will make the footpath around Barrow Bay wetter (and it’s already hard to cross in wet weather, with the path regularly underwater), we are also installing a section of boardwalk to keep the route open.

In early June we started construction on the boardwalk. This is now well underway, and the embankment removal will soon follow. Keep checking back for more updates!

10 June 2024

Liftoff for Blea Tarn project

The project at Blea Tarn is off the ground, as the Riverlands ranger team oversaw a series of helicopter lifts to bring materials to site.

Tonnes of rocks and timber were brought to the site by helicopter and will be used later in the summer to block channels and ditches running through the wetland, with the aim of slowing the flow of water across the site. Using a helicopter to move materials not only saves time, but also prevents heavy machinery movements damaging the fragile wetland habitats.

By slowing the flow of water through the wetland and encouraging the water to spread out across the landscape, the project will encourage a healthy, resilient wetland to develop. Pools and wet areas will provide habitats for a variety of plants, invertebrates, and amphibians. Heathy wetlands are also an important means for capturing and storing carbon, supporting climate change mitigation.

We’ll be posting more updates on this project across the summer – keep checking back to follow our progress.

Thanks to our fundraiser, The Millward Charitable Trust, for supporting this project.  

20 May 2024

It’s Invasive Species Week!

Invasive Species Week takes place this year from 20^th – 26^th May, and is an annual national event to raise awareness of both the impact of invasive non-native species and the simple things we can all do to prevent their spread.

Problematic invasive non-native species in Cumbria include New Zealand Pigmyweed, a freshwater plant which grows very quickly and forms a dense mat on the surface of the water, smothering other aquatic plants and wildlife.

Invasive species can be easily spread between water bodies on damp equipment and clothing. So, this year, the Riverlands project is highlighting the importance of the #CheckCleanDry approach to preventing the spread of invasive non-native species in our freshwater habitats.

By checking your equipment after the leaving water for any mud or plant material, cleaning everything thoroughly, and drying it before using it elsewhere, you can help prevent the spread of invasive species.  

22 April 2024

Work complete on Armboth Fell

This winter the Riverlands team commissioned a series of footpath improvements across Armboth Fell. The aim was to protect the surrounding peat bog habitat from erosion from walkers, who are increasingly straying off the existing paths in search of drier routes.

In total we have completed 680m of footpath improvements, as well as restoring the damaged peat along the footpath corridor. Work began in November 2023, and despite challenging conditions through a very wet winter, was finished by the end of March 2024.

15 April 2024

Species Survival Fund success

We are delighted to be part of the Trust’s Freshwater Renaissance programme which was recently awarded £2.97million from the Government's Species Survival Fund.

The fund, developed by Defra and delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, has awarded grants to projects across England for habitat creation and restoration, including Riverlands.

In the Lake District, the grant will support our work to tackle Invasive Non-Native Species, improve the connectivity of water habitats, and deliver an engagement programme.

And we’re really pleased to once again be working with our long-standing partners at the Ullswater Catchment Management Community Interest Company and West Cumbria Rivers Trust to deliver the project.

8 April 2024

Hydrosere – the forgotten habitat?

Riverlands is at heart a catchment restoration project. Although often focused on restoring rivers themselves, our remit includes restoration of the water environment at catchment scale.

Having previously explored peat and pond restoration across catchments, this year we are exploring a new area of the landscape; the hydrosere. The hydrosere is the transitional habitat on lakeshore edges, where the water environment becomes a terrestrial environment. Historically we have lost much of our hydrosere habitat in Cumbria, as land management utilised all available land right up to lake edges.

So, Riverlands has commissioned a feasibility study to explore the possibility of restoring a more natural hydrosere habitat in four locations across Cumbria. We hope that the options identified in the in the study will lead to opportunities for hydrosere restoration, both at the specific locations being studied as well as other similar locations across Cumbria. 

21 March 2024

Finalists for the UK River Prize!

Exciting news, we have been shortlisted as finalists for the 2024 UK River Prize!

In partnership with Ullswater Catchment Management CIC and supported by many others, including the Cumbria River Restoration Strategy, we have been working hard to restore habitats around Ullswater. The partnership has delivered 282 individual projects, resulting in 843ha of habitat restoration. Projects include over 13km of river restoration, 46ha of pond creation, over 16km of hedgerow creation and significant areas of wood pasture, peat and wetland restoration.

It’s fantastic to be recognised for the work we have been doing together, we think Ullswater is a great example of how you can have natural rivers, thriving wildlife habitats and farming existing happily together for the benefit of everyone involved.

The 2024 UK River Prize winners will be announced on Wednesday 24 April, wish us luck!

11 March 2024

Moving materials on Armboth Fell

Our Riverlands ranger was up on Armboth Fell recently, receiving materials by helicopter lift to continue with the Armboth peatland restoration project. The work site is too remote for materials to be brought in by vehicle, so helicopter is the only option here. It certainly makes for a dramatic workplace!

100 meters worth of heavy slabs of stone were brought up for footpath improvements. We’re really pleased to be working with local contractor, Lake’s and Dale’s Countryside and Landscaping Services, to complete the installation of the flagged path. This trail around the delicate peat will protect it from trampling feet so it can continue to store carbon and support wetland habitat.

19 February 2024

Visiting the Liza River in Ennerdale

The Wild Ennerdale National Nature Reserve is home to one of the last truly wild rivers in the Lake District; the Liza. But even the River Liza has not completely escaped historical modifications, and has been significantly simplified and straightened over the final 1.5km of its course before it enters Ennerdale.

We are delighted to be working on a design to set this final stretch of the Liza free, which will result in wild and natural river, from the source deep in the Ennerdale National Nature Reserve all the way to its end at the lake. This summer, in a first for our Riverlands project, our own team will hopefully carry out the work. It’s always a pleasure to spend time in this stunning valley, and an honour to be trusted with an iconic river.

12 February 2024

Caring for Crowdundle Beck at Acorn Bank

There have been some significant changes to Crowdundle Back at Acorn Bank this winter. The Riverlands team have been working at Acorn Bank for a while now to find a solution to the damaged weir, but we’ve also been exploring options to help manage a section of rapidly eroding riverbank downstream of the Mill.

If you’re interested in learning more about the two issues we’re working on, and the options being considered, the Riverlands team is holding a drop-in session at Acorn Bank on Sunday, 18^th February. We’ll be available from 11am until 3pm to talk to visitors and locals about how we plan to care for Crowdundle Beck. We hope to see you there.

25 January 2024

Making progress on Armboth Fell

Despite the run of poor weather this winter, we’ve been making good progress with our footpath and peat restoration project on Armboth Fell. Our contractors have been working hard since November to complete the first section of footpath repairs, from High Tove to the Pewits.

The next task is to organise flagstones to be delivered to site, which will be used to repair a section of path from High Seat top Ashness Fell. Given the remoteness of the location, the flags will be delivered via helicopter, which is always a complex and dramatic event. Weather permitting, the heli-lift will happen at the end of February – keep an eye out if you’re in the area and you might just spot it!

14 December 2023

Looking back at 2023

2023 has been a different sort of year for the Riverlands team – having become accustomed to delivering big projects over the last few years, this year had a distinctly different theme. The focus has been less about delivering projects on the ground (although there has still been some of that!), and more about planning what the next few years of work will look like.

To that end, we’ve surveyed and audited around 200km of rivers in the Lake District to understand their condition and the opportunities they present; we’ve held conversations with colleagues across the county to understand their ambitions for the water environment in their care; and we’ve been busy planning the next big projects that will be coming to fruition in 2024 and 2025.

So, a different year, but a busy year nonetheless! And the team is looking forward to what 2024 will bring.

29 November 2023

One year anniversary of the RiverPrize win

A year ago today, the Riverlands team, along with colleagues from the other organisations that make up the Cumbria River Restoration Strategy, found out the incredible news that they were the collective winners of the European RiverPrize. It was an incredible moment, honouring all the hard work put in by the CRRS partners to improve the health of the rivers across the county.

One year on, we’re all still working hard to restore and protect our rivers and their catchments. We’ve got new projects in the pipeline, new colleagues on the team, and are working in new places. But the commitment remains the same; to restore and protect the rivers in our care, for the benefit of people and nature, now and forever.  

22 November 2023

Phase 3 starting soon on Armboth Fell

This winter, the National Trust's Riverlands project together with our partners will be working on Phase 3 of the Armboth Fell restoration project, to continue restoring the damaged peat and repairing the footpath network across this important peatland habitat.

The works are being carried out by several partners and projects including the National Trust Riverlands project, Fix the Fells, Cumbria Wildlife Trust as part of Natural England’s Nature for Climate Project and supported by United Utilities.

The focus for the Riverlands team this winter is delivering 680m of new path surface across the Armboth Fell ridgeline. This addresses the problem of fell users straying off the aging footpaths in search of a dryer route, and inadvertently causing damage to the surrounding habitat. By providing a clear and resilient line through the peat bog, the new path surfaces will allow an area of 3.3 hectares of damaged and at-risk peat to recover. Work is planned to start in mid-December and will be completed by March next year.

Healthy peatlands are vital to the fight against climate change. They are the UK’s largest carbon store and work to keep water in the land, protecting the landscape both during times of flood and drought. The habitat they provide is home to specialist fauna and flora which are becoming increasingly endangered. A large proportion of England’s peatlands are now damaged by drainage, heavy grazing, burning and recreational use.  Once damaged, the peat dries up and washes away, releasing its carbon stores into the atmosphere.

27 October 2023

Options at Acorn Bank

Over the last few months, we’ve been developing options for the weir at Acorn Bank. There are lots of factors to consider, including the current poor state of repair of the weir, the need to preserve the water supply to the watermill, and the barrier that the weir poses to fish and other riverine species including White Water Crayfish. So, the Riverlands team commissioned Jeremy Benn Associates as external experts to help us understand what our options might be.

JBA have come up with a broad selection for us, ranging from the full removal of the weir, through to options for fish passes or rock ramps. Each option comes with a series of pros and cons, and the next step for the team and stakeholders will be to decide on a preferred solution. It’s certainly a tricky balancing act! So, we’ll be carefully considering all the options to find the one which delivers the best outcome for both nature and heritage in this special landscape.  

21 September 2023

World Rivers Day and the Big River Watch

This Sunday is World Rivers Day. Celebrated on the fourth Sunday in September, it’s a day to highlight the many values of our rivers, increase public awareness of the challenges they face, and encourage improved stewardship of all rivers around the world.

In the UK, the Rivers Trust is marking World Rivers Day by launching The Big River Watch to help build a picture of river health across the country. Simply by downloading an app, and spending 15 minutes observing your local river this weekend, your observations can be uploaded into a national data set that will help the Rivers Trust and other environmental organisations fight for healthier rivers.

Search ‘The Big River Watch’ to download the app and find out more about how to collect data about your local river, or visit worldriversday.com to explore other events happening around the world.

11 September 2023

‘Raindrop to River’ exhibition comes to a close

Tomorrow we’ll be returning to Keswick Museum to take down our temporary exhibition, ‘Raindrop to River’. Produced in partnership with West Cumbria River’s Trust, the exhibition has been on display in the Community Gallery for 6 weeks, telling the story of rivers in the Lake District from their very beginnings as the rain touches the felltops to their end at the sea.

To accompany the exhibition we’ve run several events, including a lunchtime talk, family river-dipping, and guided sessions with the augmented reality sandbox. It’s been fantastic to see how engaged visitors to the museum have been with our exhibition, and especially lovely to see the sandbox on it’s first outing since 2020 – it’s gone down particularly well with all the young visitors to the museum over the summer!

Our thanks go to the team at Keswick Museum for inviting us to be part of their Community Gallery exhibitions, and supporting us through the run.

28 August 2023

River Audit Field Surveys Complete

In April, we announced that the Riverlands project was commissioning an audit of all the rivers on our landholdings in the Lake District. We want to understand how much the rivers in our care have been simplified from their natural form, how resilient the river systems are and how easy (or challenging!) it would be to restore them to a more natural state.

After walking along around 200km of river over the summer, our consultants have finally completed the field studies of all the rivers being assessed. It’s been a huge task, taking 13 weeks to complete, and a vast amount of data has been collected along the way. The next step is to begin processing the data into a useable and accessible format, to help spark conversations with colleagues, partners and tenants, and decide where to focus our attention next.

We’re expecting to start receiving the reports at the end of Autumn – keep checking back as we share our findings.

14 August 2023

Announcing a new project at Acorn Bank

The Riverlands team is delighted to be working on an exciting new project at Acorn Bank.

Crowdundle Beck, which flows through the grounds at Acorn Bank, features a weir which feeds water to the mill downstream. But the weir is being gradually eroded by the river, and we need to take action to stabilise it. It’s also a significant barrier to migratory fish who travel upstream each year to reach their spawning grounds in the headwaters.

So, we’re working with partners to develop a solution to these two problems. It certainly won’t be an easy fix! But we’re looking for a sustainable solution which benefits both people and nature; continuing to supply water to the historic mill while improving the habitat and health of the river.

4 August 2023

'Raindrop to River' at Keswick Museum

Come and visit our temporary exhibition, ‘Raindrop to River’, in the community gallery at Keswick Museum, and join in with our series of free, fun activities.

Brought to you by the National Trust's Riverlands project and West Cumbria Rivers Trust, we explore how humans influence rivers and their wildlife, and how rivers influence our lives and communities. Featuring the interactive ‘augmented reality’ sandbox, you can also have a go at making your own river!

The exhibition runs Sat 5 August to Sun 10 September, and is free to enter (please note normal admission charges apply if you would like to visit the main museum galleries). Find out more at keswickmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/community-gallery

31 July 2023

Today is World Ranger Day

Today is World Ranger Day which celebrates the work of rangers across the globe. It is estimated that there are half a million rangers supporting nature, wildlife and public access. The Riverlands Team is incredibly lucky to not only work with the amazing rangers in the National Trust, but also to have our very own ranger on the team.

We couldn’t have delivered the Riverlands projects without our ranger colleagues – from planting trees to digging ponds or leading guided walks, they are the keystone that holds our projects together. So it’s with heartfelt thanks that we wish them all a happy World Ranger Day!

23 July 2023

It's World Bog Day!

Bog Day is celebrated around the world every year on the fourth Sunday in July. This year it's on Sunday 23rd July. The aim is to celebrate the importance of bogs, fens, swamps and marshes, and it is an opportunity to raise awareness of the threats they face and the ways we can all help to protect them.

Peatlands are wonderfully wild places, home to a rich variety of plants, birds, and insects. They also provide a wide range of services to society, including drinking water, carbon storage, flood prevention and a historical and cultural archive.

Working with partners at Natural England, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, United Utilities and Fix the Fells, the Riverlands project has already restored nearly 90ha of peat bog on Armboth Fell above Borrowdale. And this year we’ll be supporting the work of the Great North Bog project on Armboth, by improving the footpath network across the fell to protect the restored peat, which is easily damaged by walkers straying off the path in search of a dryer route. 

30 June 2023

Bone dry rivers in the Lake District

The rivers in Borrowdale valley – famously England’s reputed wettest location – are in serious prolonged drought conditions. For the third year in a row the River Derwent which flows through Borrowdale has dried up almost completely – and it’s not the only river which is suffering in this summer’s prolonged drought. Across the Lake District, rivers are drying up and lakes are shrinking.

Often watercourses like the River Derwent dry up in drought because they have historically been altered from their natural course. Returning rivers to a more natural state can help make them act less like drains and hold on to more water, which also has benefits in times of extreme rainfall as it slows the flow downstream.

Becky Powell, Riverlands Project Manager says: “The Riverlands project has been working hard to deliver strategies which increase the resilience of our environment and communities to climate change. We have delivered projects across the Lake District, including in Ullswater where Goldrill Beck used to run dry, but is now still flowing despite the dry conditions. This not only helps the river and all the plants and wildlife which rely on it, but it also provides sustainable drinking water for livestock. Storing water in the landscape in this way not only makes it more resilient to drought and wildfire, but to flooding also.”

12 June 2023

We’re celebrating Great Big Green Week!

Running from 10-18 June, Great Big Green Week is the UK's biggest celebration of community action to tackle climate change and protect nature. To celebrate the Riverlands team are putting on two guided walks this week, taking a closer look at some of our projects and exploring how they can help mitigate against the impacts of a warming climate.

Taking in our peat restoration project on Armboth Fell and the pond creation project at Dunthwaite, the project team will explain how important it is to slow the flow of water through the landscape. Slowing the flow will protect us, and nature, against the impacts of both drought and floods - which we know will both become more frequent and intense in the future. Check out greatbiggreenweek.com to find an event near you.