The Long Preston May Day kick started this year’s show season with family friendly fun in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales village! The Ribble Rivers Trust were attending the show for a second year in order to showcase the work we have been carrying out in the area and around the catchment.   Shows are a great way for us to spread the word about the work we do. The shows we attend are varied in theme Continue Reading...

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Sat with a year 6 group watching sand martins return to the river’s eroded bank, swooping around picking freshly hatched riverflies from the air. One girl leans to her friend to say “I could watch these all day. I’m going to come down here at the weekend.” At that moment, a huge grin spread across my face! That’s what our education programme is all about – reconnecting, and in some cases for the first time Continue Reading...

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By Lydia Ferris, Clitheroe Royal Grammar School.   I don’t really know what caused me to contact Ribble Rivers Trust for work experience but I am so glad that I did! This week has been very informative and has helped me build my knowledge of what exactly the RRT do and has shown me just how much work they have to do to help and sustain our rivers. I underwent varied tasks as the week Continue Reading...

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By Lorraine Richen-Stones After 32 years working in the NHS and with my children full grown I gathered the courage to leave seeking a second career in conservation with a passion to make a difference. As an existing tree planting volunteer with the Ribble Rivers Trust (RRT) since January 2014, Jack the Trust’s Director generously offered me a sabbatical placement to gain new skills in conservation field work. This enabled me to test whether a Continue Reading...

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By Mike Forty, Project Officer.   Restoring connectivity in rivers One of the big challenges we face in restoring freshwater ecosystems is re-connecting disjointed sections of streams which have been isolated by construction of in-stream structures. These structures can have profound effects on streams, acting as a barrier reducing, delaying, or altogether stopping fish or invertebrate movements, and disturbing geomorphological processes. This barrier effect is arguably greatest when rearing and spawning habitats of migratory fish Continue Reading...

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Watch our latest video about our radio tracking of the Ribble’s spring run!

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We are celebrating the news that we have received initial support, including a £371,500 development grant, from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to work up our project ‘Ribble Life Together’.

The project aims to achieve a healthier water environment for the benefit of people within the Ribble Catchment by improving its natural heritage and will be delivered in partnership with other organisations operating within the catchment, from United Utilities to the Forestry Commission.

Healthy watercourses and the land surrounding them provide many important benefits, such as reduced flood risk, clean bathing waters and valuable tourist attractions. But according to the recent assessments, two thirds of the catchment’s watercourses are failing to meet good ecological status for many reasons. The Ribble Rivers Trust believes that by working together with local partners to combine aims and objectives, activities can be aligned and more benefits can be achieved.

During the 18 month development period, Ribble Rivers Trust and its partners will develop plans to deliver activities that ensure rivers and the land surrounding them are better managed and monitored, with a view to improving their condition.

The project will have a significant focus on involving local people, helping them to learn about their natural heritage, develop skills, change their attitudes towards their environment and provide new opportunities for everyone to enjoy their natural landscape.

By working with local partners, local contractors and businesses to undertake activities that improve the catchment and attract and protect tourism, the project will help to create and safeguard jobs giving a significant boost to the local economy.

More information will be available on the project here soon…

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Soon after flowing under Mitton Bridge, the River Ribble grows considerably where it is joined by the Rivers Hodder and Calder.  The ‘Big Ribble’ continues through fertile pastoral land with a large amount of dairy farming and becomes tidal in Preston, Lancashire’s administrative centre.  The Ribble Estuary flows past the fertile Fylde plain on its way to the Irish Sea, where the coastline becomes increasingly urbanised from Lytham St. Annes northwards towards the popular holiday destination of Blackpool.

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The Upper Ribble catchment includes the source of the River Ribble at the confluence of Gayle Beck and Cam Beck near the famous viaduct at Ribblehead, in the shadow of the Yorkshire Dales three peaks in the National Park area above Horton-in-Ribblesdale.  This area is lightly populated and the main use of land is for the rearing of sheep.  As the Ribble flows through Ribblesdale and on towards Lancashire the land becomes more fertile allowing dairy farming on the pastureland.  The principal towns include Settle in North Yorkshire, Barnoldswick and Clitheroe in Lancashire.

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The Hodder catchment includes some of the most attractive landscapes within the Ribble catchment. The whole area is within the designated Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the uplands are in the Bowland Fells SSSI. The catchment has a highly valued fishery and is popular with anglers. Stocks Reservoir and other upland river intakes, provide a vital part of the North West’s public water supply.  The Hodder valley is mostly agriculture with small rural villages including Dunsop Bridge and Slaidburn.

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