Riverlands project at Porlock Vale

Winter 2023

Immersive soundwalks launch

Inspired by the National Trust’s work on the estate, novelist Ellen Wiles has written and produced  two immersive audio story experiences: Riverlandia and Buzzard View. Narrators include Gemma Whelan and Spencer Jones.They can be accessed here.

Riverlandia is a fictional sound story, told by ten human and non-human characters living in a changing river valley, including a beaver, a dragonfly, a fish, a tree and a couple of humans. Inspired by the ecological work of the Riverlands project. 

Buzzard View is a literary soundwalk, following a beautiful loop route around the Holnicote Estate, following its landscape, history and ecology. It takes you through woodland, moorland and coast, over a beacon and past buildings old and new. You will encounter stories of past inhabitantsm including the former owners of the estate and regenerative farmers living on the esate today. Buzzard view can be listened to insitu or as a vritual experience. 

2023

Virtual beaver enclosure tour is launched and our beaver families continue to grow

A unique insight is shared

To coincide with World Wetlands Day in February 2023, a first of its kind virtual tour of the beaver enclosure on the Holnicote estate was released. The tour captures the beavers and other wildlife in their natural habitat using high res 360° video and allows users to navigate through the enclosure. Clips of the growing kits and their parents, Grylls and Yogi, all feature on the tour. You can view the tour here.

 

A trio of new arrivals

In August we welcomed three new beaver kits to the Holnicote Estate. In the Paddocks Wood enclosure baby Earps (named after Lioness goalkeeper Mary Earps) joined siblings Rashford, Russo and Toone. In the Whiteman's enclosure first-time parents Lily and Bulrush welcomed twins Moss and Fern.

2022

A growing family

Two more kits 

In Spring 2022, the beavers at the Holnicote Estate had two more young, which were later named Russo and Toone after Alessia Russo and Ella Toone, two of the footballers whose star performance brought England victory in the Euros. Russo and Toone are siblings of Rashford, the first beaver kit to be born on Exmoor for 400 years. 

Ben Eardley, Project Manager at Holnicote, said: 'We chose these names as a fitting tribute to the Lionesses' win. Over the next few months we’ll be able to track their development and witness how they can help us with our conservation work, in particular building more resilience into our landscapes to help mitigate the consequences of extreme weather.'

Stage Zero enters a new phase 

In Autumn 2022, work began on 15 hectares of the River Aller and its surrounding landscape to reconnect the river to its original floodplain. This 'Stage 0' approach completely resets natural processes and the flow of the river.

Engaging the local community

In December last year, the Riverlands and Exmoor Coast team hosted an event at Porlock Village Hall, not far from the Holnicote estate.

During the event, Ben presented information to the local community about the exciting conservation work happening on their doorstep, as well as other work taking place at Stage 0 to re-connect the River Aller to its floodplain and the effect the beavers are having on the landscape.

The team worked to bring the beaver enclosure to life with a virtual 360° interactive video tour through two virtual reality headsets, which enabled over 120 local people of all ages to experience our work in new and exciting ways – with some fantastic feedback received: “The event was a superb way to explain to the local community about the various works on the estate. The VR experience was excellent, the detail is shows about the restoration work is fantastic and how it fits in with the larger restoration work.”

2021

New beavers

The beaver family expands 

The beavers now have a young beaver, which has been named Rashford. The baby beaver, also known as a kit, was seen on camera in July 2021 swimming behind its mother back to the family lodge. The kit is the first ever young beaver born on National Trust land.

The beaver family have been busy transforming the 6.7 acre (2.7 hectare) beaver enclosure from unmanaged woodland to a more open wetland.

Reducing flash flooding

The dams the beavers are creating will hold water during hotter dry weather. This will lessen flash-flooding downstream and reduce erosion.

The project will be carefully monitored with help from Exeter University to note both ecological and hydrological changes to habitat.

2020

Beaver reintroduction

Part of the ecosystem 

The plan, approved by Natural England, released beavers into two fenced areas of woodland at Holnicote in January 2020.

Beavers were once an important part of the ecosystem but became extinct in the UK in the 16th century due to hunting for their fur, meat and scent glands.

The benefits of beavers 

Beavers are known as a keystone species within the ecosystem. They create wetlands which support other species such as water voles, otters, dragonflies and amphibians. 

2019

Water voles return

Releasing the water voles 

Over 300 water voles have been reintroduced at Holnicote Estate by 2019. The water vole is one of the fastest declining land mammals, disappearing from 94% of its habitats.

Sibling groups and breeding pairs

The water voles have been specially bred by a local expert ecologists and will be released in sibling groups and breeding pairs. 

Closely monitored activity

The new arrivals are being closely monitored to see how they are settling in. Rangers, volunteers, students and the public will be joining forces to record their presence and behaviour.