Yorkshire Wildlife Trust

Water for Wildlife, West and South Yorkshire

The River Calder Biodiversity Project

Project Officer: Brian Lavelle

September 2007 saw the launch of two exciting new projects on the River Calder. The two complementary projects will run simultaneously for two years. The River Calder flows across West Yorkshire from Todmorden in Calderdale, east until the confluence with the River Aire in Castleford. In order to create real lasting benefits we needed to forge a partnership which spanned three districts so that we could work on a number of sites simultaneously all along the river.

The SITA Trust funded project will physically restore biodiversity habitats at a landscape scale by reinforcing a selection of river corridor sites between Calderdale and Wakefield. The Heritage Lottery funded project will complement this work by improving access to selected sites and promoting the wildlife and industrial heritage of the River Calder to the people of the catchment.

Look out for quarterly updates over the next two years when we will take a closer look at the industrial and natural heritage of these man made jewels.

Rebuilding Biodiversity

We are leading a SITA Trust funded partnership project that is worth £167k and will be rebuilding biodiversity along the River Calder from Brighouse to Wakefield The exciting approach sees Yorkshire Wildlife Trust project officer Brian Lavelle, overseeing work on three Calderdale council sites (Atlas Mills, Clifton Lagoons and Cromwell Bottom), three sites in Kirklees (Colnebridge/Dalton Bank, Dogley nature reserve and Thornhill Wetlands), and one very large council site just east of Wakefield (Southern Washlands Nature Corridor or SWNC). The project will strengthen the ecological network by working on multiple sites simultaneously.

The officer will be delivering practical work on the ground at SWNC where volunteers and contractors will be helping by de-silting, coppicing, scrub clearance and pond creation work, to retain and increase the wildlife value of the site. The site already has otters, sand martin colonies and at least three species of orchid. He will also deliver practical work on some of the other sites including Thornhill Wetlands and project manage the others.

The partnership of Calderdale Council, Environmental Alliance, Kirklees Council and Wakefield Council will carry out work on a number of sites, including sites owned by British Waterways, Kerry Foods, Syngenta, and Yorkshire Water.

Your Heritage

The Heritage Lottery Fund through the Your Heritage programme has awarded us a grant of £50,000 to promote the natural heritage of the River Calder to the people of the area. The project will increase the local interest and sense of ownership of the the ex-industrial sites while reducing disturbance to protect BAP wildlife, including otter and reed bunting, by promoting and marking routes that avoid sensitive areas. We will also offer free biodiversity and land management advice, which will improve the wildlife management of the neighbouring land holdings along the river.  

We will raise awareness of the uniqueness of the River Calder's natural and post industrial heritage and through talks, events and guided walks the local communities will be encouraged to get involved. Communities will learn about the rare and unexpected wetland species that live alongside them and will have the opportunity to learn practical habitat management and species identification skills. The self-guided wetland trails and leaflets will provide information on the sites of man-made history, their biodiversity interest and their context in the local area.

The funding will also pay for a range of access and interpretation improvements to three sites:

• At Cromwell Bottom near Brighouse there will be disabled access improvements including two special access gates and 330m of new and upgraded track.
• At Matthews Foods in Ossett factory workers will assist in the construction of a willow viewing screen using willow from the site. There will also be information available about the wildlife on the neighbouring site.
• At SWNC funding of walks leaflets, new way-marking and events will promote this fantastic, but underutilised site to the people in the surrounding area. By encouraging and engaging with the local community, visitor numbers should increase.