Nigel goes wild.

Yes, Nigel's been at it again, contributing to the Blog, so I don't have to, and here's an interesting report you may find useful:

I attended the Annual Member’s Meetup of the Wild Trout Trust (WTT) this weekend in Hungerford. Despite being a member since its inception this was the first time that I had attended, and it was very worthwhile. I was particularly interested in the practical work carried out on rivers bearing in mind some of what we have achieved over the last few years.

I wanted to save having to make two relatively long drives in one day so I went down the night before and stayed in a pub near the venue. Once I had eaten I joined a few other members including the Director, Shaun Leonard, for a beer or two. Obviously the discussion was all about fish, fishing and rivers and the time went by very quickly. In fact a couple of us got thrown out by the staff at the end of the evening. [Presumably because it was late, not because they all went wild? PB]

On Saturday morning we had a number of talks that were interesting. Shaun updated the members on the activities of the Trust over the last couple of years. There has been a lot done, most of which involved practical work improving river habitat. Frankly the amount that gets done bearing in mind there are only 2700 members is astonishing.

We then had an introduction to the work of Action for River Kennet (ARK) from Charlotte Hitchmough, which included some details of projects carried out by them in the local area. 

After a refreshment break we had a lively talk from Andy Thomas, Conservation Officer for the south and east with WTT. He is clearly passionate about restoring rivers and improving them for the fish and other wildlife that inhabit them. This was followed up by a couple of short talks from Jack Uridge and Graeme Phillips, who are the river keeper and a fishing member on the Eastridge Estate. It was interesting to hear their perspective on managing their bit of the River Kennet.

After lunch we divided up into groups in order to visit four river restoration projects in the area. I visited the Shalbourne. This is a project that has involved both the WTT and ARK. They have moved the river from a tree covered, heavily incised and dredged channel and restored it to its historic place in the main valley. Some gravel has been added to the river and they have also installed some large woody debris into the channel. They have reconnected the river to the flood plain, including some areas that now become boggy in the winter, storing water and reducing the flood risk. This was carried out last year and they will be planting some additional tree saplings this winter. We walked some of it (despite the fact that it was extremely hot) and were guided by the conservation officer from ARK.  We managed to spot a lot of invertebrates, including a fair number of shrimps, as well as a few small trout. So even at this stage things are looking good for the future.

It was great to see what can be done with some assistance from the WTT.

I would encourage anyone who is interested in wild brown trout and rivers generally to join the Wild Trout Trust. They really do make a difference a the cost is not that great, less than a pound per week and even less if you are 65+. The membership is relatively small compared to the number of trout fishers in the UK, and even a small increase in memberships would help to increase the level of the work that that they can do. They also provide regular newsletters and an annual journal which is a very good read.

If you would like more information you can go to their website:

https://www.wildtrout.org/content/membership

 Nigel Francis