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Landmark Dredging Project Begins on One of UK's Best Canals


Ray T

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14 November 2017  

CANAL CHARITY BEGINS ENVIRONMENTAL DREDGING PROJECT
ON POCKLINGTON CANAL - ONE OF UK’S BEST CANALS FOR WILDLIFE

This week, work begins on a landmark dredging project to help transform East Yorkshire’s Pocklington Canal.  This is the first time in over a century that two sections (totalling just under a mile) of the 9-mile canal are being dredged. 

 This £152,000 project aims to finish just before Christmas and is led by the Canal & River Trust, the charity that cares for the Pocklington Canal as part of its 2,000-mile network of historic waterways.

 A special amphibious digger will remove approximately 8,000 tonnes of nutrient-rich silt (equivalent to the weight of 2,285 elephants) that will be re-distributed to a nearby arable farm.  Reusing the silt locally is beneficial to the environment as it avoids lorries taking the silt away to landfill.

 By clearing silt and reeds from the centre of the canal to create an open channel, the charity will ensure that rare aquatic plants and wildlife living on and along the canal continue to thrive. Unlike many of the Canal & River Trust’s other dredging projects, which primarily help to keep the network of canals open to boats, the work on the Pocklington Canal is taking place in the non-navigable upper reaches of the canal.  The main focus is to help wildlife, while also contributing to the overall vision to make more of the canal navigable to canoeists and boaters.

 The Pocklington Canal, which celebrates its bicentenary next year, is one of the UK’s best canals for wildlife, with the majority of its length protected through three Site(s) of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), due to the variety of important aquatic plants that live below and above the water surface – soft hornwort, flat-stalked pondweed, narrow-leaved water-plantain, flowering-rush, fan-leaved water-crowfoot, flowering rush and arrowhead.

 However, this diversity of aquatic plants has been in decline over the years, partly due to dominance of common reed and over shading by trees.  Dredging will create areas of open water, helping to reverse this decline and in turn see an increase in other wildlife such as dragonflies.

 A staggering 15 species of dragonflies and damselflies live on the canal, which is one of the most northern sites on the Trust’s canal network to show such diversity of species.  In addition to protecting the wildlife in the canal, the Trust has also implemented an annual hay raking regime in order to increase flower diversity, and to attract bees and other pollinators.

 The Pocklington Canal dredging works is funded through the Canal & River Trust’s Gem in the Landscape project - a three-year programme of activity supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

 Lizzie Dealey, Gem in the Landscape project officer at Canal & River Trust said: “Largely unchanged since it opened in 1818, Pocklington Canal is a real hidden gem. This dredging project is a pivotal moment in our three-year vision to help transform this historically and environmentally important waterway through wildlife habitat improvements, heritage restoration activities and family-friendly events leading up to and during the waterway’s bicentenary next year.  Just 9 miles from York it’s a great place to relax, and unwind.  Being by the water really helps to contribute to our sense of wellbeing, helping to create healthier and happier communities – and once this project is finished, we’ll hopefully have even happier wildlife!”

 Phillippa Baron, ecologist for the Canal & River Trust said: “Sometimes it’s necessary to step in and give nature a helping hand and restore the equilibrium on our waterways.  Dredging is a carefully planned and monitored process, involving our teams of engineers, environmental scientists and heritage advisors to ensure we protect the heritage of the site and create an environment where rare aquatic plants, insects and birds can flourish. We purposefully carry out dredging in the cold months to avoid disrupting the breeding seasons and nesting areas in spring and summer.”

 She added: “The canal will be in much better shape once the dredging has been completed.  Reeds have choked up this section of the waterway, out-competing the aquatic plants that make the canal so special. With fewer reeds in the middle of the canal more sunlight will also be able reach the water allowing more fragile pond weeds and plants to thrive. A fringe of reeds will be left alongside the canal bank to provide habitats for reed and sedge warblers and other wildlife.”

 Back in September 2016, staff from the Canal & River Trust and Natural England met to decide upon the areas that would benefit the most from dredging. Initial work was carried out earlier this year, with the final section being completed in November and December.

 Simon Christian from Natural England commented: “This very exciting project will result in considerable improvements for the wildlife that live on the canal. The open water habitats created from the dredging will be of particular benefit to aquatic plants and dragonflies and create open views of the canal, not seen for many years, to enable an even better visitor experience.”

 To find out more about the work of the Canal & River Trust, and how you can get involved, go to www.canalrivertrust.org.uk

For information about the Gem in the Landscape project, visit www.canalrivertrust.org.uk/pocklington-canal

 ENDS

 For more media information, images, interview requests or to visit Pocklington Canal please contact:

Naomi Roberts, National Press Officer

T: 0113 2845238           M: 07557 256482          E: naomi.roberts@canalrivertrust.org.uk

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As the dredging is on the "non navigable upper reaches", I cannot help feeling that some boat traffic might be beneficial to the wild life. When we cruised the Pocklington Canal some years ago, the contrast between the clear water, with numerous fish, and the variety of plant life below the last restored lock and the reed choked ditch, complete with abandoned blue plastic drums, above the lock was quite remarkable! :huh:

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Last time I went up the Pocklington (in a 60'6" boat, for the record) would have been around 1990 and the last navigable pound up to Melbourne basin took us most of the day. It was plenty deep enough but the weed was so thick you couldn't even bow haul through it.

The basin itself was fairly clear - except for sunken maintenance boats which were the only thing to moor to.

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