Reviving The Wye

My first outing today with the Revive The Wye volunteers - something I've been meaning to do for some time but not got round to before. We spent the morning clearing a stretch by Desborough Recreation Ground, just off Fryer's Lane - previously the site of one of several mills along the river. The Wye is a chalk stream, a globally rare habitat - there are 225 in England, which represents 85% of all the chalk streams in the world.

The others worked in the river, clearing it to improve the flow, or cutting back the undergrowth along the banks. My job was 'Barrow Man' - moving the debris to pile it up for collection by the Council.

Amongst the things we retrieved from the river was an American crayfish - not a welcome sight, as it poses a massive threat to native species in rivers, lakes and ponds.