Trout in the Town:

A trial of the "Mayfly in the Classroom" apparatus (a very slight modification of Finlay's (2001) system developed in Australia) has produced its first offspring. A proud moment for MITC which is, itself, a child of Trout in the Town. Back in November 2008 a basic set of equipment was assembled from very cheaply available materials (the most expensive item is the air pump at £8). An assembly procedure that is simple enough even for the author to complete (and therefore a doddle for the schoolkids) housed 3 pairs of nymphs for 6 weeks in perfect happiness. These were released back into their native river just before Christmas 2008 and just one of their cohort retained for further work. After continuing to graze on the algae-covered pebbles in her mini-aquarium, Thursday last week heralded the point that the nymph decided it was high time for a major change of lifestyle. As a result, she emerged as the flying sub-imago (or dun). The nymphal "shuck" (or skin) le...

Following on from the water quality data analysis - here is some summarised information that TINTT has pulled together using data kindly supplied by the EA. These data are drawn from sites that are being considered for habitat restoration (with a possible long-term view of restoring native trout populations). First of all, it is apparent that there are examples of a number of invertebrate families that are happily living in the Cray that would not be able to exist in polluted environments. You can particularly see the good populations of Gammarus (freshwater shrimp). These shrimp are a valuable find because they have lifecycles that can take two years or more to complete. In addition, because they can't fly, they are not very good at migrating upstream over weirs to colonise new areas (i.e. they can only really re-colonise from upstream populations if they are wiped out). Taken together - their presence in healthy numbers indicates that water quality tends to be good enough to enab...

Sheffield's own godfather of industry, the river Don, now has a small family of loyal protectors. SPRITE (Sheffield Partnership: Rivers In Town Environments) aims to work alongside local businesses, government, the Don Catchment Rivers Trust and conservation volunteers to protect and rejuvenate the urban river corridors of the city and its suburbs. SPRITE is the Sheffield branch of the Trout in the Town family and is headed up by two figures; local ecologist Dr. Cheri Gibson and lifelong local angler John Blewitt (who was intereviewed along with TINTT by the Walkley Herald about the project): Despite the Don's much improved water quality and the existence of nice habitat patches (with great potential for more), there are still many obstacles to tackle for wildlife in general - and the iconic wild brown trout in particular. Habitat managment and restoration for the benefit of brown trout automatically also benefits the general river corridor wildlife. The trout requires good wat...

This from Ashe Hurst – River Keeper on the River Cray with Thames21: Good News, We got planning agreed tonight from Bexley Council. The River Keeper base on Foot Path 106, Barnes Cray Road Crayford DA1, will provide a focal point for River Keeper Volunteers and volunteers, storage for tools, kit, boats, canoes and enhancement materials. We will be able to hold meetings, carry out training & repairs. At present the land is derelict and over grown. The shipping container, porta cabin & WC are being provided by Bexley Engineers Department as a mitigation from the A206 Thames Road & Bridge building project. Although not yet envisaged as an main office as such, I will need suitable power to operate a PC, Printer, Lights, Heating, hot & Cold Water, Sink , Fridge, Microwave, Kettle. We need to be on site by end of February or the funding from the mitigations will be withdrawn by March. We Started Footpath 106 enhancements projects today, within 15 mins were down to T- Shirts. ...

Young Nathan from Omagh in County Tyrone with his first Brown Trout - a wild urban fish. How do you quantify the enrichment that angling brings to individuals, communities and the environment? Trout in the Town is looking forward to working with the SUBSTANCE group (a not-for-profit cooperative: http://www.substance.coop/ ) in understanding the benefits to society of participation in angling. In addition, such effects as "angling as a gateway to conservation" will also be quantified. All of our Trout in the Town project teams will be issued with the research questionnnaires produced by SUBSTANCE. There are also plans to specifically target very detailed investigations on one or two selected town communities. The overall SUBSTANCE project is outlined below - and it is mainly to research questions 1 and 2 that Trout in the Town will be contributing. The Social and Community Benefits of Angling A 3-Year Research Project by Substance, funded by the Big Lottery Research Fund Proje...

Catch a glimpse of Thames21's (and the River Cray's) very own Ashe Hurst on BBC's "Wild About Your Garden". The episode "Tales from the Riverbank" is all about a section of the lower Cray and a garden that backs onto it. Hopefully, some Trout in the Town offspring will find their way downstream to these reaches to become a handful of very large predatory Ferox in years to come.....Here is the link to the programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fnppt

We were really pleased (and surprised) to find out that Dreamstore ( http://www.dreamstore.org/home/ ) have chosen to give an award to the Trout in the Town project. Dreamstore supports and promotes activities which benefit education, social inclusion, and conservation through fishing. Trout in the town is very much community based and runs through the hard work and participation of both conservation and angling club volunteers. Therefore, the WTT is extremely pleased that Dreamstore have recognised Trout in the Town with their very kind award.