Previous Projects
The East Yorkshire Rivers Trust have co-ordinated and participated in a wide range of projects to improve the fisheries and biodiversity of rivers within their catchment. A description of past projects can be seen by following the links on the left or below.
Lowthorpe Mill bypass channel (The Wild Trout Trust Winner)
In 2016, the East Yorkshire Rivers Trust won The Wild Trout Trust conservation award for Medium Scale Habitat Enhancement. Alan Mullinger (EYRT) took on the challenge to create a new, naturalised channel to bypass the mill pool and water control structure at Lowthorpe Mill on Foston Beck. Further Details.
Hertford Workshop
The East Yorkshire Chalk Rivers Trust in partnership with the Environment Agency and Wild Trout Trust, collectively organised and ran a two day workshop demonstrating habitat enhancements for maintained river and drainage channels. The workshop showcased techniques that can be employed to create self-maintaining river channels and improve habitat quality, with minimal impact upon flood conveyance. Further details.
Costa Beck Channel Restoration
The Costa is a “failing water body” as designated under the Water Framework Directive and the Environment Agency has been working with all interested parties to reverse this state of affairs.
The Costa Project has been in progress for some time now but is at the stage where willing hands were needed and these members of staff volunteered their “Environmental Leave Day” to help out. Further details.
Pickering Beck Channel Restoration
Pickering Beck is fed from the NorthYorkshire Moors. It follows a meandering course alongside the North Yorkshire Moors Railway as it approaches the town of Pickering from the north. Part of this course is within a SSSI and the boundaries of the North York MoorsNational Park.
The aims of the project are to use large woody debris (LWD) and coarse woody debris (CWD) to stabilise the bed of the stream. This will also provide much needed habitat for small fish and invertebrates. Further details.
Scalby Beck Fish Pass Project
Over 100 years ago a man-made channel was cut from the headwaters of the Derwent to Scalby Beck to take flood water and discharging into the North Sea. As part of the flood relief channel a number of weirs have been built to manage the energy of the floods. These weirs are a barrier to upstream migration for salmon, sea trout, eels and lampreys.
Scalby Beck Angling Club with the help of EYRT succesfully replicated their “home-build” fish pass to improve the passability for salmon and sea trout. Further details.
‘Straightened’ Derwent Project
The proposed project is to invest in a trial length of the straightened river, approximately 1½ km and address the lack of morphology by using recognised river mending techniques and green engineering methods to benefit the geomorphology of the river.
We will monitor the effects on both the WFD failures as well as any land drainage and flood defence issues. If, after the first year, all parties are agreeable, it is then suggested that the 1½ km trial site be rolled out on straightened River Derwent and River Hertford. Further details.
Foston Mill Eel Pass
In 2005, the Environment Agency fisheries department gained consent to install an eel pass at Foston Mill; taking the form of a pipe containing net material to enable eels to climb the pass. Unfortunaley, the eel pass was never completed.
To rectify this problem, EYRT removed the unfinished EA eel pass and replaced it with a specially designed eel pass. The success of the eel pass will be continously monitored, as part of this monitoring the eel pass has been fitted with camera equipment to record migrating eels. Further details.
Wansford Bridge to Snakeholme
This 1.5km section of the West Beck has been identified as being over wide, has compacted gravels, silt beds, lack of in-stream flow diversity and cover for invertebrates, fish and mammals. Although the site has some vertical banks that are stable and provide habitat for kingfishers other sections need support from erosion at times of high flows.
This project used a wide range of ‘green engineering’ techniques to address these issues and improve the overall biodiversity of the project site. Further details.
Invasive None Native Species (INNS)
The Trust has been undertaking surveys along our watercourses to identify and ultimately deal with INNS on our rivers. Japanese Knotweed is one of these species that has a minor foothold on the Gypsey Race from the wolds to Bridlington town centre.
The Trust has been involved in starting to eradicate this plant. Japanese Knotweed can damage structures as it can grow through brick work and tarmac. It is very difficult to eradicate and can require several treatments. Further details.
Wet Woodland Habitat - Lowthorpe
The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) and The East Yorkshire Rivers Trust (EYRT) have proposed works and remedies for two discrete blocks of woodland in the headwaters of the River Hull catchment.
The work is funded through the Water Framework Directive and administered by the Environment Agency. The two main drivers are to reduce siltation into the main chalk stream that is Lowthorpe Beck and to improve fish spawning habitats. Further details.
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