Designed & Built By
| A substantial element of the River Restoration Centre's work is to play an active role in advising and supporting the initiation of river restoration and enhancement projects in the UK. Below are a few examples of projects that RRC has been involved in which will be added to regularly. To find out more about the projects below, other projects that RRC have been involved in, or to discuss how RRC could become involved in your project please contact the Centre. | |||
| Please use the filters below to select a specific County, Region or River. | |||
River Avon, Churchill Gardens .jpg)
The River Avon Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) runs through the heart of Salisbury City Centre. Churchill Gardens is a public park on the southern boundary of the city where the main river passes beneath the busy A338 and the A36 main Southampton Road. A series of artificial, shallow concrete-lined and block-stone sided drainage channels are divert.....More
| |||
River Wylye, Langford Lakes 
This area comprises a series of large lakes with the River Wylye, a chalk stream, flowing through the centre of them. Langford lakes and the River Wylye are renowned for their popularity for angling but fish populations have declined over recent years. This has resulted in a partnership being formed between the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, English Nature, the Environment Agency and the Wild Trout Tr.....More
| |||
River Quaggy, Chinbrook Meadows 
This section of the Quaggy Brook, with a flashy flow regime, was channelised and straightened between 1960-1970 as part of a flood alleviation scheme. Until recently it was encased in concrete and had fences and high privet hedges near to each bank. It could neither be accessed nor viewed by the public, and was devoid of natural fauna or flora.
The objectives were to reintroduce the floodplai.....More
| |||
River Quaggy, Sutcliffe Park 
For years the River Quaggy at Sutcliffe Park was lost underground in a culvert. Local residents only became aware that a river was there when their homes flooded more frequently as development increased. Rather than further deepening and widening the hidden channel, a decision was made to combine flood risk management with a strategy for river restoration that would benefit the local community. T.....More
| |||
River Rhee, Cambridgeshire 
The River Rhee, an upper reach of the River Cam, is an excellent example of a degraded lowland agricultural river. A base fed brook, once containing a good population of wild brown trout, it is now lost in its channel and suffering severe siltation problems. Two site visits were made by RRC advisors in February and August 2000 an initial review of options for rehabilitation at the Wendy site was p.....More
| |||
River Roding, Ray Lodge Park .jpg)
Works on the nearby M11 in the 1970’s and 1980’s resulted in the river being artificially diverted and straightened and banks re-reinforced with artificial materials, resulting in poor quality wildlife habitat. The resulting fast flowing and flashy nature of the river also had implications for the survival of fish fry. A partnership project involving the London Borough of Redbridge and the Env.....More
| |||
River Wandle, Watermeads Island 
Nine hundred metres of ditches were excavated primarily for water vole habitat. Ditches were constructed with steep earth banks and shelves, suitable for digging burrows. Six water level control structures were constructed within the excavated ditches to enable water levels to be controlled to encourage the development of a di verse wetland habitat and to ensure sufficient water is retained in th.....More
| |||
River Wensum, Billingford Rehabilitation Project 
The River Wensum is a lowland river which rises to the west of Fakenham and flows through predominantly agricultural land joining the River Yare at Norwich. The meander loop was created by the Environment Agency as an ORSU (Off River Supply Unit) in the 1970?s, to provide backwater refuges for fish. Sheet piling was installed on the upstream and downstream end of the meander loop. Over the years .....More
| |||
River Wensum, Fakenham Rehabilitation Project 
The River Wensum is a lowland river which rises to the west of Fakenham and flows through predominantly agricultural land joining the River Yare at Norwich. In the centre of Fakenham an area of public open space adjacent to the river Wensum is used by the public for angling and dog walking. Bank erosion has occurred over a 130m section of this section of the Wensum due to over-grazing and trampli.....More
| |||
Stoke Brook Floodplain Restoration 
Stoney Middleton lies within the Peak District National Park, with Stoke Brook flowing through the centre of the village, joining the River Derwent to the east. In January 2007 a major incident occurred at a mine operated by Glebe Mines, upstream of Stoney Middleton, in which a tailings lagoon burst its banks. Huge volumes of water and fine sediment were washed downstream, through the village an.....More
| |||
Stoke Brook Restoration - Riddling Technique 
Stoney Middleton lies within the Peak District National Park, with Stoke Brook flowing through the centre of the village, joining the River Derwent to the east. In January 2007 a major incident occurred at a mine operated by Glebe Mines, upstream of Stoney Middleton, in which a tailings lagoon burst its banks. Huge volumes of water and fine sediment were washed downstream, through the village an.....More
| |||
River Glaven, Thornage Common Meadows 
The River Glaven is a small chalkstream in north Norfolk. The river flows some 17 km, before finally entering the sea at the tidal sluice at Cley. The gradient is steep for a lowland river. The river and meadows are valuable for wildlife. However the river as a whole has suffered over past decades through changes in farming and land management practices, and policies for flood risk management.
.....More
| |||
River Evenlode, Blenheim Palace 
There are significant recruitment problems in the River Evenlode and its tributaries for rheophilic fish, especially barbel, chub and dace which is partly due to the loss of spawning and nursery sites for these fish. Over many years, this stretch of river has been widened and dredged, resulting in the channel being over-sized (averaging 14m wide and 2m deep) and has few features that provide habit.....More
| |||
River Dulais, South West Wales 
The River Dulais, a tributary of the River Towy in South West Wales, is a mobile gravel bed river of moderate to high energy, and an important spawning tributary for migratory fish. It is typical of many rivers in that area, where unrestricted grazing, mostly by sheep, has resulted in a loss of bankside vegetation, reduced cover for fish, bank/bed instability and increased erosion.
Tradit.....More | |||
River Cleddau, South West Wales 
The River Cleddau in South West Wales is an important spawning tributary for migratory fish. The Cleddau is a mobile gravel bed river of moderate to high energy and in the demonstration area has a history of instability and planform adjustment.
Traditionally, blockstone revetments would be used in higher energy rivers to control bank erosion. However, blockstone removes any scope for mar.....More | |||
River Chess, Meades Water Garden 
The River Chess is a classic dip slope chalk stream that flows through the Chilterns AONB, rising from springs near Chesham and flowing south-eastwards for 18km before joining the River Colne. The Meades Water Gardens are a public amenity area through which the River Chess flows. Originally part of a mill pond and subsequently watercress beds, the land was given to the town in the late 1970’s......More
| |||
River Ravensbourne, Ladywell Fields 
The river Ravensbourne at Ladywell Fields formerly ran along the edge of the park, had been
artificially widened and its banks toe-boarded, whilst the river was also hidden behind railings and dense vegetation. As a result it
had become largely unnoticed by most park users and had little ecological value. The park itself lacked features and facilities and was under-used, and only 44% users felt .....More
| |||
River Wensum at Bintree 
The River Wensum is a lowland river which rises to the west of Fakenham and flows through predominantly agricultural land joining the River Yar at Norwich. In the past this section of the Wensum at Bintree Mill has been dredged creating a deepened and over-widened channel with uniform flow, and has suffered from over-grazing and trampling by Limosin cattle. The Bintree Angling Club have ownership.....More
| |||
Inchewan Burn Bed Restoration 
Inchewan Burn, a tributary of the River Tay, flows through the village of Birnam, Scotland. When the village was bypassed by the A9, a reach of the burn was engineered by encasing it in gabion baskets, providing structural protection for the roadway piers. Reno mattresses were also used to prevent down-cutting by the burn, and concrete walls provide the foundation for the roadway piers. In the.....More
| |||
River Brent, Tokyngton Park 
Extensive historical flood alleviation works undertaken in the 1940’s
and 1970’s led to this section of river being straightened and encased
in concrete. The river provided little or no recreational value, whilst
the quality of wildlife habitat was poor. In 1999 a partnership was
formed, with the aim of carrying out improvements to the park and provide a new lease of life for the river. T.....More
| |||
River Cam Habitat and Access Enhancement Project 
The Cam is a County Wildlife Site and enhancement aims to establish an adjacent 60 hectare Riverside Community Park where 1200 homes will be built in the coming years. The project had an array of partners including South Cambridgeshire District Council, Mott MacDonald, ATPEC Ltd, the RRC, the Environment Agency and the Fen Ditching Company. It is hoped the project will deliver important social and.....More
| |||
River Cole, Yardley Brook 
Yardley Brook rises in south-east Birmingham and emerges from a culvert onto the floodplain of the Cole in a concrete channel. The catchment is highly urbanised, with over 150,000 people living within 2km of the river. Urban run-off thus causes periodic poor water quality and significant litter. The brook is within an area of public open space. Originally, a sewage outfall, the brook no longer n.....More
| |||
River Rother at Shopham Loop 
Shopham Loop is a section of the river Rother, West Sussex between Coultershaw Bridge and Shopham Bridge. A cut was created in the 18th century to bypass the meander and enable passage of boats upstream. However after navigation ceased, the locks were removed and the cut became the main river course with the meander (Shopham Loop) remaining as a backwater. Land use change to an intensive agricu.....More | |||
River Calder Improvement Project 
The River Calder Improvement Project is an ambitious project led by the Ribble Catchment Conservation Trust (RCCT). While there are existing stetches of natural gravels and riverine features along parts of the river, weirs are a major constraint on fish passage. Pendle Water, upstream of the Calder has fantastic potential for spawning grounds and the project aims to ease passage for a number of.....More | |||
New Forest SSSI stream restoration 
Past river management actions have straightened and deepened rivers. Drainage ditches have resulted in substantial erosion and little seasonal inundation of some of Europe’s most important wetland, grassland and woodland habitats. Through a number of different European, national and local partnership funding initiatives, the Forestry Commission in collaboration with Natural England, more re.....More | |||
Milton Keynes Floodplain Park Forest 
At a site which has been historically mined adjacent to the River Great Ouse on the edge of Milton Keynes, there is a long-term project vision to create a floodplain forest park which would help deliver biodiversity goals and sustainable flood risk management measures. .....More
| |||
River Shep, RSPB Fowlmere Nature Reserve .jpg)
Before 2007 all materials and labour for the management work was provided by the RSPB, using home-grown materials, and volunteers. By 2009 approximately 75% (450m) of 600 m of river within the site had been modified or managed by volunteers, using a combination of faggots, spiling and brushwood ledges when materials and labour became available. However, the most challenging sections (those where.....More
| |||
River Ravensbourne, Cornmill Gardens 
Before the regeneration of this site, this section of the Ravensbourne
flowed through an area known as the Sundermead Estate. The river had
been constrained within a narrow concrete channel as part of an historic
flood defence scheme. This, together with high steel railings and
overgrown vegetation had resulted in a neglected river possessing little
ecological or local community interest. The.....More
| |||
Braid Burn at Inch Park 
The Braid Burn rises in the Pentland Hills to the south-west of Edinburgh, and flows in a generally north-easterly direction through the city before discharging into the Firth of Forth at Portobello, east of the City Centre. The catchment is 30.5km² and Inch Park is one of the sections of the project where environmental improvement to the burn corridor was carried out in conjunction with reducing.....More
| |||
River Tame at Croxall Lakes 
Alongside Croxall Lakes Nature Reserve (an old gravel quarry), the River Tame had been confined to a single, deep and narrow channel between high, steep and reinforced banks. In late 2009, a partnership involving Staffs Wildlife Trust, Natural England, Lafarge Aggregates, May Gurney, Network Rail, the EA and National Forest Company, began works to remove 540 m of bank and re-create a more brai.....More | |||
River Nar, Narborough - berm creation 
A pilot project identified by RRC in writing the Strategic Restoration Strategy for this SSSI river, the Environment Agencys own operations team delivered these quick win enhancements. In this very low-gradient, wide and embanked channel, existing but under-performing wooden flow deflectors were used to anchor material dug out of the bed and placed immediately upstream to narrow the channel. .....More | |||
Dove Weir Removal and Rewilding, Dovedale 
The valley of Dovedale, a Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI), popular with both tourists and anglers, lies at the south of the Peak District National Park, and is home to the River Dove. Historically, the Dove has been heavily modified with weirs constructed throughout the valley roughly every seventy metres. The project, led by the local fly fishing association has restored the natural d.....More
| |||
Great Ryburgh Common Meander Loop Re-connection 
The River Wensum is a chalk SSSI and SAC river currently stated as being in unfavourable condition. Located to the southeast of the Norfolk town of Fakenham the meander loop at Great Ryburgh Common was bypassed in the 1950’s when the River Wensum was straightened, widened and deepened as part of a land drainage improvement scheme. .....More
| |||
River Skerne Restoration Project 
The Skerne demonstration site is located in the town of Darlington, County Durham and demonstrates what can be achieved in an urban environment. The Skerne has been straightened and enlarged to reduce flooding and to drain the surrounding urban area. Much of the floodplain has been raised by old industrial waste tipping, with gas and sewer pipes running alongside the river. As a result of these co.....More
| |||
River Cole Restoration Project - Coleshill 
The River Cole at Coleshill flows through National Trust owned farmland, North East of Swindon on the Oxfordshire and Wiltshire border. Here the Cole has been realigned, straightened, and enlarged for over 900 years. Originally straightened for milling, the downstream section has more recently been enlarged to safeguard agricultural production from flooding. Above the mill the channel was realigne.....More
| |||
Upper Wharfedale Best Practice Project 
The Upper Wharfedale Best Practice Project was an integrated approach to land and water management in an upland catchment of North Yorkshire. The project was primarily implemented in 1998 - 2002.This project was a partnership between the Environment Agency, National Trust, English Nature, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, Yorkshire Water, Forestry Commission, Tilhill Economic Forestr.....More | |||
Afon Ogwen, Snowdonia 
The Afon Ogwen flows through the Nant Ffrancon valley in the Snowdonia National Park and is part of the Glydeiriau Site of Special Scientific Interest. In its upper reaches the Afon Ogwen is a high-energy mountain river. The river is the main outflow from Llyn Ogwen (Lake Ogwen), from which it flows northwards over Rhaeadr Ogwen (Ogwen Falls) down into the large u-shaped glacial valley of Nant Ffr.....More
|