JULY NEWS
in this issue…
Emmerdale | Rivers2U at Crakehall PS | Wharfe Aeration
Spades in ground at Ousewem
Tees Swale Update | Water Saving | Ice Swimming Fundraiser
What’s been happening this month…
As summer warms up (thankfully!) several of our projects reached important milestones which you can read about below. We also enjoyed a volunteering day with the cast and crew of ITV’s Emmerdale…
Remember – if you like what you read – please share!
Day out with ITV’s Emmerdale
As part of its social purpose for ‘Shaping Culture for Good’, ITV 1’s Emmerdale ‘Green Team’ joined us for a day to learn more about river restoration. Head of production and mastermind behind the Green Team, Nader Mabadi said: “This has been a great opportunity to learn more about environmentalism and conservation though engaging in a hands-on way. We hope the team will take back what it learnt today to feed into scripts and augment stories with additional environmental messages.” Ellie King, 2nd/3rd Assistant Director at Emmerdale also added: “To me this opportunity was about getting outside into nature and learning about what our show represents, which is rural Yorkshire. There’s a lot of box ticking that goes on, but this was about taking it to the next level and making a connection between the show and where it’s set.” Read the full story here and click on the button below to find out more about our Corporate Days:
Wharfe Aeration
30 July saw the sun set on the second of two Soil Health & Aeration farm events. The first event, hosted in Burnsall in early June, included help from the Farmer Network, NFU and Yorkshire Dales National Parks and Catchment Sensitive Farming. The second event, hosted in Addingham, was run in close collaboration with Nidderdale National Landscapes and Catchment Sensitive Farming and included help from the NFU.
Both evenings started with a speaker talking about the importance of soil health and removing soil compaction for farm productivity and environmental benefits. Following updates on options and support available from Catchment Sensitive Farming, the evenings went on to field demonstrations looking at the soil, sward health and mechanical aeration options.
Soil health is not a new concept, however it is currently a hot topic across farming and environmental sectors since healthy soils are better able to weatherproof grasslands for wet and dry seasons, improve farm profitability, reduce downstream flooding and improve water quality. With thanks to all partners who’ve collaborated on this project, to the two farms who kindly hosted the events on their land, machine demonstrators, speakers and our funders (the Environment Agency & Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.)
Project to Reduce Historic Metal Mine Pollution
Site work is also ongoing on our diffuse metal pollution mitigation project. This large scale, exciting and collaborative water quality and nature recovery project is part of the Tees Swale; naturally connected project. You can read more about it via the button below:
Help Us Raise £1000 in BigGive Pledges
Rivers2U at Crakehall C E Primary School
Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Exelby Services, we were able to support Crakehall CE Primary School near Bedale with bespoke, hands-on river education classes through our Rivers2U education programme.
Children got involved with hands-on science through kick-sampling in the river and identifying creatures from mayfly to crayfish. Older children explored the journey of the river with the working river model in the mobile Rivers2U classroom, and used microscopes and charts to classify invertebrates from the local beck. Pupils also learnt about pollution sources impacting our rivers, and the actions we can all take towards helping improve water quality to enable our rivers to thrive.
If you’d like to sponsor Rivers2U to come out to your local school please get in touch.
Photo: River dipping with Crakehall Primary School
Ousewem – Spades in Ground!
Ousewem is excited to announce the launch of its first major project, with spades officially hitting the ground at Smaden Head Farm. This is a significant milestone in the project’s mission to implement nature-based solutions (NbS) and natural flood management (NFM) across North Yorkshire’s Swale, Ure, Nidd, and Ouse river catchments. The project at Smaden Head Farm near Ripon aims to improve flood resilience by slowing the flow of water from Smaden Head Dike into the River Skell. It involves installing hedgerows, leaky barriers, and woodland to reduce surface water flooding, ultimately enhancing the land for farming. These interventions also aim to reduce erosion and sediment input into the watercourse, provide new habitats for wildlife, and store carbon. Read the full story via the button below:
Open Day – Save the Date!
Our annual Open Day will be held at Gilling West, near Richmond on Saturday 5 October from 1pm – 4.30pm. We will soon be publishing the times of our talks and guided river walk, or you can simply drop in for tea and cake and find out what we are up to! We’ll also be offering practical demonstrations to help you learn more about our different volunteering opportunities and project work. Our River2U mobile river lab and classroom will also be on site.
Support Record Breaking Jonty!
YDRT trustee and amputee Jonty Warneken is embarking on a series of intrepid open water ice swims this year and next to raise awareness of the things that are important to him and raise funds for three charities close to his heart: YDRT, Candlelighters Fighting Children’s Cancer and Open Country, helping people with disabilities to access and enjoy the countryside.
Setting himself a target of raising £30,000 to mark this year’s 30th anniversary of the actual incident in which he lost his leg, Jonty also plans to raise a second £30,000 in 2025 to mark the day when, after months of struggle, he finally accepted that his leg could not be saved. You can read more about Jonty’s intrepid series of ice swims here, and donate via the button below:
Rivers2U at a show near you!
Arthington Show – 18 August
Skell Valley Project Family Fun at Fountains Abbey – 22nd August 11am -3pm
Wensleydale Show – 24 August
Reeth Show – 26 August
