Revivel committee members and Revivel members had a very busy weekend attending two local fairs, the Baldock Eco Fest on Saturday 7th May and the Stotfold Steam Fair and Country Show on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th May.
It was great to be able too talk to people about the problems with the Upper Ivel and spread our messages.
Revivel held a series if three river walks in March and April specifically for Revivel members , and their friends and family.
The walks centred around Ivel Springs and the upper section of the Ivel .
Members that attended these walks found them interesting and informative and the feedback has been very encouraging.
Many thanks to committee members Beth and Ian Hall , who hosted the walks ,and to Sally Newhouse for allowing us to use the images.
Ivel River Restoration Walk ( Stakeholder event 1)
Members of RevIvel attended the first stakeholder event for Affinity Water’s project developing outline designs for the restoration of the River Ivel through Ivel Springs. The event was staged by 5 Rivers consultancy who are leading the project for Affinity Water.
The meeting was aimed at getting stakeholder views on what should be done to make the river channel more natural following man-made changes over the years. This will also maximise the value of any available flow and improve biodiversity within the river corridor.
The event was well attended by around 30 people from many different organisations showing the strength of local feeling in getting the best outcomes for the River Ivel. It was particularly pleasing to have the attendance of our local MP, Sir Oliver Heald, once again demonstrating his commitment to improving chalk streams.
The event was a walk around the Ivel Springs reserve to discuss opportunities, issues, and constraints with local stakeholders, including Revivel. Affinity Water gathered information during the course of the walk from participants that will help inform the design development. There was also a question-and-answer session where the proposed wetland and river augmentation scheme were also discussed. There is still a concerning lack of detail about the augmentation scheme and RevIvel members asked a number of questions to challenge Affinity Water staff about this. There remain clear differences between what Affinity Water are proposing for the augmentation plan and what RevIvel consider to be fair and beneficial to the Ivel. We continue to work hard to gather evidence to challenge the science and modelling behind their proposals.
Please see the attached map detailing the project area
Ashwell Horticultural Society really enjoyed the talk by Kathryn Mackenzie and Catherine Wilmers about the demise of the upper River Ivel. The organiser Margaret Gilliam said “many thanks for your wonderful presentation”. As a result of the talk they will visit and walk the River Ivel in Springtime 2022.
The RevIvel Association’s annual general meeting was held on Monday 1st November 2021.
It was decided to hold the meeting over a zoom call due to the rising number of cases to ensure everyone stayed safe rather than all meet in person.
The highlights of the meeting were…….
Bernard Butt, Chair of RevIvel, opened the meeting with a welcome and brief introduction.
There then followed a series of presentations by various committee members
Kathryn Mackenzie, Education Officer,presented a roundup of this year’s achievements.
Sharon Moat, Publicity and Communications, presented a report on progress.
Richard Meredith Hardy, Research and Development, presented an update on flow and historical research.
Tony Woodman on behalf of Matthew Woodman, Treasurer and Membership, presented the years annual accounts.
Committee members were either re-elected or elected as follows
Chair: Bernard Butt
Publicity and Communications: Sharon Moat
Research and Development: Richard Meredith Hardy
Treasurer: Matthew Woodman
Membership and Website Manager: Tony Woodman
Education Officer: Kathryn Mackenzie
Environmental officer: Ian Hall
Strategy and Archivist: Beth Hall
River improvement and Members’events: Craig Johnson
Nick Rogers, was the guest speaker, our Patron, Emeritus Geology Professor at the Open University and former President of the Geological Society. Nick spoke about the ‘The geology of a chalk stream’.
Beth Hall presented RevIvels’ future plans.
Next year’s Annual General meeting is to be held on 7th November 2022
The Revivel team spent the day at Baldock’s Eco Fest talking to lots of people about the Upper Ivel and explaining more about the aims of the group.
There were some educational activities that attracted lots of children that included making dragonflies; distinguishing between water vole, mink and a rat and pond dipping for mini beasts.
Over the weekend of Saturday 9th October and Sunday 10th October the RevIvel team attended the Stotfold Steam Rally and spoke to lots of local people about the plight of the Upper Ivel .Many people were unaware of the issues facing their local river.
Sharon Moat gave a talk highlighting the plight of chalk streams and the importance of ensuring their restoration and preservation. Many present were aware that Ashwell Springs are the source of the river Rhee and are also a Site of Special Scientific Importance. Since the 1970s an augmentation scheme has been in place for Ashwell Springs, meaning that abstraction here is linked to the flow of the river. RevIvel are campaigning for a similar scheme to be introduced to protect the head waters of the Ivel.
Sharon highlighted that there are 2 main issues facing chalk streams, pollution and over abstraction.
Chalk stream talk on 14th September at Letchworth Arts and Leisure Group, Howard Hall, Letchworth.
Sharon Moat and Richard Meredith – Hardy were a great double act, highlighting the issues facing all chalk streams but particularly the upper reaches of the Ivel. They were keen to make local people aware of the scarcity of chalk streams but also to understand the enormous volumes of water being abstracted daily from the source of the river and the implications on the biodiversity. They were also keen to bring to life the importance of the historical evidence which demonstrates how different the river was before abstraction commenced. Most people present expressed how shocked they were.
Letchworth Green Festival was held on 11th September. Some of the RevIvel team were delighted to be able to join Letchworth’s Green Festival and have an opportunity to discuss all things chalk stream related with people in Letchworth. The stall was busy offering children (and adults) a moment to make a dragonfly, enjoy “pond dipping” experience and look at the rich numbers of invertebrates currently living in the upper reaches of the Ivel, as well as understand more about the challenges faced by chalk streams today.
