Work has been completed on a significant piece of restoration work on a Lake District stream.
West Cumbria Rivers Trust reshaped a 200 metre stretch of stream that flows into St John’s Beck at Fornside Farm in St John’s-in-the Vale.
The restoration, which has created a new, more natural flowing watercourse and wetland areas, showcases the benefits of working with local landowners to bring rivers back to life and improve the resilience of their farmland.
The stream had been historically straightened, raised, and embanked, leading to several issues for the farm.
The channel caused regular flooding and created large areas of boggy grazing ground, requiring constant maintenance to manage the land, which increases the landowner’s costs. Limited habitat and frequent periods of drought had a detrimental impact on local aquatic species, the trust said.
In collaboration with Fornside Farm, West Cumbria Rivers Trust created a new, meandering stream and a series of wetlands positioned at the field’s natural low point. The old, straightened channel was filled in and restored as grazing land.
Jonny Kidd, West Cumbria Rivers Trust project officer for St John’s Beck, said: “Restoring rivers not only has big benefits for wildlife but also has practical advantages for farming and food production. We encourage other farmers and landowners to get in touch with us to explore how river restoration could benefit them.”
Joanna Butler, Fornside Farm landowner, said: “Working with West Cumbria Rivers Trust has transformed our boggy field into a thriving wetland habitat with a far more productive grazing area, enhancing flood resilience, wildlife and grazing.
“Both design and implementation of the project were carefully considered and I would encourage other landowners to embrace similar projects.”
The work was made possible with support from project partners The Environment Agency, Natural England and United Utilities.
