Plastic pollution in rivers: has Wales reached a tipping point? Bradford Beck runs black with sewage, killing fish and invertebrates (just days after suffering runoff from a waste depot fire at Shipley) How dams damage rivers, and why it’s good to remove them Plastic rivers (again): most marine pollution doesn’t start in the sea If […]
Archive for the tag 'Urban river restoration'
July 15 2018
Now available: New ebook edition of The Pocket Guide to Balsam Bashing
Perfectly timed for this summer’s balsam bashing season, Merlin Unwin Books have just released a new ebook edition of the best-selling Pocket Guide to Balsam Bashing. As many river restorationists know all too well, urban rivers and their catchments are particularly prone to invasion by non-native species like giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam, mink and signal […]
June 20 2018
Urban fly-fishing report: River Tame, Stalybridge
A few days ago, the new combined Trout in the Town team took to the rails to travel from (nearly) opposite ends of the country… … and converged at Stalybridge for a flying visit to an urban river that’s been much in the news recently. Paul and I both knew how the lovely little River […]
June 1 2018
Film night: Let’s hear it for the volunteers!
Volunteers Week runs from 1 – 7 June this year, and to celebrate the vital work of volunteers who are the lifeblood of many local river groups across the UK, the Rivers Trust has just released this short film of what it’s like to volunteer with the Don Catchment Rivers Trust. In 2018 alone, […]
April 17 2018
In the Telegraph: River guardians of the Tame
I’m knee-deep in the river Tame in Stalybridge, 15 miles east of Manchester. Beside me is Woz Andrew, a local fly-fishing guide. After climbing down a flight of stone steps from road level – hollowed by a century of boots and a remnant of this river’s industrial past – we have made our way slowly […]
February 5 2018
Urbantrout sidecasts: Monday 5 February
Finding Bruce the shark: latest community cleanup news from the Wandle … but it’s double trouble for the Hogsmill, and all that fly-tipping in Wandsworth is getting way beyond a joke Trout in the Town: updates from Birmingham and Coventry Defending Richmond Park’s Beverley Brook from urban runoff (Part 2 – here’s part 1) … […]
January 12 2018
River restoration permit price hike: Please make your voice heard today!
When it comes to the future health of our urban and rural rivers, of course, the really big elephant in the room is Brexit. But while we’re waiting to see how this will (or hopefully won’t) stomp all over the UK’s environmental protections, we want to draw your attention to something much more urgent – […]
January 5 2018
Trout on the Tube: T&S tackles the Wandle
At a time when well-loved print magazines such as Total Flyfisher and Fly Rod & Reel seem to be dropping like flies, it’s reassuring to see venerable titles like Trout & Salmon still going stronger than ever. Of course, staying right on the cusp of current developments in progressive fly-fishing is one way to ensure […]
December 8 2017
Urbantrout beanies and hoodies: Winter is here!
You’ve almost certainly heard the old outdoors saying ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather – only the wrong clothing’. And as another ‘Beast from the East’ (aka Storm Caroline) rolls the winter’s first significant snow across the UK, we’re not going to argue with that. After all, that’s why we bring you the best beanies […]
November 20 2017
Trout & Salmon: Jon Beer fishes Holmfirth
Here at Urbantrout, it’s a constant low-level source of entertainment to watch how different angling writers react to the ambiguous challenge of our urban rivers. One or two usually-intrepid international explorers have proved weirdly squeamish (no names, no pack drill!) – while other less obviously gung-ho personalities are clearly super-keen to get stuck into Dirty […]
