Reg. Charity No. 1091000

From early April through May, the Wandle Trust is running a series of consultation workshops throughout the Wandle Valley to get local residents’ views on what the Wandle means to them at the moment, and what could be done in the future to make it healthier and more appealing.

These workshops are now in full swing, and some new evening and weekend dates have recently been announced (check the Calendar page for more details).

So how are the workshops going so far? What have people thought and said, and are they finding the workshops as enjoyable as we hoped they would?  Here are some updates:

People from nearly thirty different organisations and interest groups have participated, including charities, Friends Of groups and social clubs as well as landowners and managers.  That’s not a bad cross-section at this stage!

With so many different backgrounds, there’ s a natural diversity of interests and priorities.  Yet, interestingly, there’s frequently a large amount of agreement on key issues.  I’m noticing it as I type up and consolidate the results, but it is something participants are also seeing at the workshops as we progress through the activities.  One attendee commented that they liked the “Co-operation and diversity of ideas amongst participants”, while another enjoyed the “opportunity to interact with other local interested people”.

A key thing that seems to be a winner is the way the workshops are carried out using a piece of kit called Ketso.  It is democratic, non-judgmental and, perhaps most importantly, being made of fuzzy felt with adhesive shapes, it is great fun to use!  “Immeasurably better than a flipchart”, “very innovative and easy to use” and a “useful way of pooling ideas” are just some examples of the overwhelmingly positive feedback I’ve received.

Ketso is also proving that even people who come to a workshop feeling they might not have anything to contribute are finding it a good way to brainstorm.  One popular sentiment that is emerging is surprise at how many different things are being thought of and how satisfying it is to look at when a session is finished and all the ideas are mapped out in front of you.

But don’t just take our word for it – come along and experience it for yourself!

Just in case you can’t get to one of the workshops, we’ve also created a special online  questionnaire to help make sure you don’t miss out.  So if you prefer to let us know your views this way, please take ten minutes to click here and have your say!

If you’ve ever wondered how the Wandle Trust’s work helped to kick-start the whole UK’s urban river restoration movement… then wonder no more. 

Just click on over to the latest issue of Eat Sleep Fish and read this fascinating interview with our good friend Paul Gaskell of the Wild Trout Trust, aka Dr Trout in the Town. Quite apart from the Wandle Trust’s involvement, it’s also a great illustration of how passion and profession can converge in one man’s career (and a reminder to some of the rest of us that maybe we didn’t quite make the right early career choices…)

The one with the obstinate lamp post!

Undeterred by the prospect of April showers, 49 volunteers assembled on the Wandle Trail to tackle a stretch of the river we hadn’t visited for at least 5 years. Water levels are generally much lower now than they were then, so it seemed a perfect time to return and see what we could dredge up from the depths.

Very early on, in the shadow of Wandsworth Council’s refuse lorry park, some of the guys found what they originally thought was a pipe, but soon discovered to be a full-sized lamp post! 

As you’ll see, this would amuse and frustrate them in equal measure for the duration of the cleanup, so determined were they to remove it…

Elsewhere, the predictable pieces of chipboard, carpets, mattresses and piping began to emerge from the water, and were passed to bank-based volunteers through a convenient hole in the corrugated steel pilings:

Meanwhile, back at the lamp post, the guys are excavating one end which is obstinately stuck in the river bed …

Further along the Trail, some of our volunteers got on with the task of dragging a large piece of carpet out of the river…

… whilst others did some very valuable litter picking.  And what a sterling job they did!  Not only did they barrow back load after load of rubbish,  they removed a small fly tipped pile of junk from the bushes, which included at least a dozen tyres:

Meanwhile, back at the lamp post, the guys have rotated it through 90 degrees, lifting the free end up and out of the water and tying it to – guess what? – whilst they figure out what to do next!

This seemed an appropriate time to stop and recharge our batteries with tea, coffee and delicious rhubarb yoghurt and lemon coconut cakes prepared by Sally and Jo. With our gazebo pitched at the side of the Trail you could be forgiven for thinking that we were miles away from the urban sprawl of South West London!

Meanwhile, back at the lamp post, energised by cake, the guys have rotated the lamp post through a full 180 degrees, so dislodging the end which was stuck fast in the riverbed…

The rest of our volunteers continued to pile the rubbish up outside the now-closed waste and recycling centre on Weir Road, where the irony of the signs saying ‘No Flytipping’ weren’t lost on any of us!

Meanwhile, back at the lamp post, with all the muscle power they can muster, the guys have dead-lifted it out of the river and laid it carefully on the bank where it evidently once stood…

During all this Herculean activity, our regular lorry driver, Stan, turned up to remove the rubbish and, again, there was so much of it, he said he would have to return with a colleague for another load later. And as ever, we’re also very grateful to Tony of Merton Council’s Waste Management Team, who arranged collection of the rubbish pile on the day.

Finally, our thanks go to Ned and Kirstie from Zipvan who not only got stuck in with the rest of our volunteers but also confirmed that Sunday’s van hire was ‘on the house’. As they both had to rush off after the cleanup, they didn’t see what gets loaded into the back of one of their vans… but they’ll find out now!

Thanks to all our volunteers: Abi, Andy B, Andy B, Andy P, Carol, Caroline, Charles, Dom, Emer, Erica, Gearoid, Gideon, Helen, Hugh, Irene, Jacopo, Jane, Jeremy, Jo H, Jo S, John B, John N, Katherine, Ken, Kirstie, Laila, Leonie , Luisa, Mark M, Mark P, Michael, Ned, Neil, Nikki, Paul, Peter, Phil, Philip, Rob, Roger, Rory, Rose, Ryan, Sally, Stephen, Steve, Theo, Yves and Wayne

… who collected:

1 holdall, 1 metal barrier, 1 saw, 1 car seat, 1 wheelbarrow, 1 fridge door, 1 microwave, 1 tarpaulin, 1 long plastic pipe, 2 lamp posts, 2 oil drums, 2 metal frames, 2 road cones, 2 office chairs, 2 televisions, 3 large bore pipes, 3 mattresses, 4 metal pipes, 5 pallets, 6 metal bars, 6 plastic pipes, 6 sheets of corrugated iron, 8 carpets, 12 tyres and approximately 2 tonnes of other unidentified rubbish.

Elizabeth gets stuck in cleaning up the Wandle!

We are delighted that Elizabeth Taeed has joined us for four months through a Vodafone World of Difference Award to investigate how we can apply a new concept of Payment for Ecosystem Services on the Wandle.  She will look at the wide variety of ‘services’ that the Wandle provides, from being a place for people to fish, walk and cycle to cooling the air around the river; to providing water to just being a nice place to be!  Her work will then look at whether there are opportunities for people to pay to improve the service they enjoy.  She will also help us look into ways we can improve water saving measures in the Wandle Catchment.

Elizabeth will be writing a blog as part of her Vodafone Award (here), so do take a look to follow what she’s up to.

The one with the bathroom in the brambles

What a difference a month and several more degrees on the thermometer make!  A spring sun shone down on 49 volunteers who assembled at Trewint Street in Earlsfield for another go at this particularly litter strewn area.

Whilst half of our volunteers waded into the river to start pulling out various items of junk…

… the other half got to grips with the most enormous pile of fly tipped rubbish we’d ever seen. As we barrowed away shower screens, tiles, bricks and silicon guns, we came to the conclusion that someone had dumped the remainder of a bathroom refurbishment: 

The pile of fly tipping was immediately adjacent to the travellers’ site, and since it couldn’t have been dumped via the Wandle Trail because of barriers and gates, various theories were put forward as to how it got there! Interestingly, amongst the rubbish we found letters and emails, addressed to one particular family, which may provide the basis for an investigation…

Meanwhile, back in the river, the two Andy B’s and Toby had been digging away in the silt which held a large tool box that they’d been unable to get out last time.  This time, success!

Chris did a sterling job on the bank, tying on the ropes and using the crowbar as a lever so that those on the footpath could pull the box to the top.

Later, Andy also found a chainsaw and evidence of non-native fishy occupancy!

A bunch of friendly daffodils welcomed our hard working troops at lunchtime and delicious tomato and rice soup, lemon coconut cake and blueberry cupcakes were served up by Sally and Jo…

…. before we returned, suitably refreshed, to the fray.

Driven by disbelief and fury over uncaring fly tippers, our volunteers worked on until 3pm – and what a difference they made!

In the last 15 minutes we found a large water tank, this one heavier than the first because it was full of silt. With all three grapples in action, the tank was eventually hauled up to the footpath, where Roger removed most of the silt by hand and discovered that an eel had taken up residence!

Our regular waste lorry driver, Terry, turned up early to remove the rubbish and there was so much of it that he had to arrange to return the following day for a further two lorry loads.

As ever, we’re very grateful to him, as well as Joanna and Michael of Wandsworth Council’s Waste Management Team, who arranged collection of the rubbish pile on the day.

Thanks to all our volunteers:  Abi, Amy, Andy B, Andy B, Andy P, Ann, Anne, Anthony, Barry, Bella, Caitlin, Charles,  Chris, Devesh, Doug, Emily, Erica, Gearoid, Helen, Henry, Hugh,  Jan, Jane, Jann, Jen, Jill, Jo H, Jo S, John N, John P,  Ken, Leon, Leonie , Letty, Mark, Maureen,  Michael, Philip, Robert, Roger,  Sally, Sally Ann, Shelley, Sue, Theo, Toby, Tony, Wayne and William

 … who collected…

1 water tank, 1 road cone, 1 radiator, 1 chair, 1 carpet, 1 hose reel, 1 tarpaulin, 1 water tank, 1 long plastic pipe, 1 20 foot roll of pipe insulation, 1 front door, 1 radiator, 1 bicycle, 1 plastic road barrier, 1 tin bath, 1 chainsaw, 1 wheelbarrow, 1 tool box, 1 Anderson shelter section, 3 pallets, 3 sheets of corrugated iron, 4 tyres, and 5 tonnes of fly tipped builders’ waste including wood, bricks, plaster board, cement mix; plus an entire bathroom including bath, basin, loo seat, shower screens and a mirror.

Eel tally: 1

 All photographs : Sally Ann Symis

This event was supported by the Western Riverside Environmental Fund.

We are thrilled to announce that Claire Bedford has joined the Wandle Trust team to help deliver the Wandle Catchment Plan over the coming months. 

Claire is an ecologist and self-confessed Wandle fan!  Having previously worked with London Wildlife Trust to plan for the reintroduction of the water vole, she knows the Wandle well.

The Wandle Catchment Plan aims to understand what we need to do to improve the river so that wildlife can thrive and people can fully enjoy the environment.

Claire will undertake a series of workshops to capture people’s views as well as analysing data to make sure we’ve got the science right – keep an eye on our Calendar page for workshop dates over the next few months or email Claire directly.

The one with the Dons’ silver cup

Bundled up against the freezing zero-degree weather, 41 volunteers descended on the Wandle at Plough Lane to help us tackle yet another 50m of rubbish-filled waterway and litter-strewn Wandle Trail:

Some of our greener volunteers had cycled to the cleanup and tethered their two wheeled steeds to the railings:

Starting under the road bridge and working upstream it wasn’t long before a water logged mattress  was discovered in the river and was hauled up to the rubbish dump on the end of a rope:

There was lots of light litter too, some of it hard to reach in the bramble bushes:

Somewhere under the bridge, American student Eric pulled out a hallmarked silver cup engraved with the words Wimbledon Football Club Snooker Handicap Cup – presented by the Mayor of Wimbledon, Councillor CW Black, JP, 1947 …

Can it really have been in the water since then?  We’ll do our best to find out and return it to its rightful owners!

In the meantime, we welcomed the chance to warm up with tea, coffee, hot pumpkin, sweet potato and ginger soup… followed by cupcakes, a ginger cake and a  pre-Valentine’s Day chocolate cake complete with pink glitter dusting produced by Sally and Jo:

Jo also brought a bottle of her raspberry gin so that those who weren’t driving could have a nip and keep out the biting cold.  Does this count as one of our five a day, we wondered?

(Don’t forget: these and many more delicious recipes can be found in the Wandle Trust Cookbook volumes I and II – you can buy yours for just £3.50 at cleanups, and all proceeds go towards the work of the Wandle Trust!)

In spite of the near-Arctic conditions our volunteers worked on until 3pm and everything from household items, sports equipment and toys to statuettes of goddesses were retrieved during the rest of the afternoon:

Once the van was loaded up with all the kit and on its way back to the garage in Battersea, most us us departed to thaw out, while volunteer Mark was quick to post his own photo story on his blog Gullible’s Travels!

As ever, we’re very grateful to Tony and Francis of Merton Council’s Waste Management Team who arranged collection of the rubbish pile.

Thanks to all our volunteers:  Andrew, Andy B, Andy P, Bella, Catherine, Charles L, Charles W-S,  Chris, Elizabeth, Eric, Erica, Gearoid, Graham, Helen, Henry, Hugh, Jacopo, Jo H, Jo S, John, Kate, Lucy Sa, Lucy Sh, Mark M, Mark T, Martin, Mel, Moosa, Mike, Nick, Phil, Rachel, Roger,  Sally, Sally Ann, Scott, Stefanie, Theo, Toby, Tom and Wayne

… who collected …

1 silver cup; 1 shopping trolley; 1 push chair; 1 pot of paint; 1 laundry basket; 1 vacuum cleaner; 1 vacuum cleaner hose; 1 dustbin; 1 pallet; 1 credit card; 1 vinyl record; 1 Disney toy candlestick; 1 knife; 1 toy chainsaw; 1 toy lorry; 1 statuette of Shiva; 1 loo seat; 1 car seat; 1 broom; 1 stepladder; 1 tennis racket; 1 mattress; 2 skateboards; 2 coat hangers, 2 bicycle tyres; 4 car tyres; 8 carpets; 10 bags of cans and bottles and 2 tonnes of unidentified rubbish.

Eel tally: 1

Photos: thanks to Sally Ann Symis and Sally Pike

On Thursday 15 December last year, a car load of likely lads from the Wandle Trust descended on Sparsholt College in Hampshire for a fisheries masterclass: stripping eggs from 5 female trout and milt from 3 male trout, and then mixing the eggs and milt in a big bowl to fertilise the eggs.

They were ably tutored by Alan Black, the man in charge at the hatchery: 

By Thursday 12 January, the eggs were ‘eyed’ and ready to be collected from Sparsholt:

With help from 2 more Wandle Trust volunteers, 200 of the same eggs were delivered to each of the 7 schools taking part in Trout in the Classroom this year.

The children were amazed at how the eggs looked: these Year 5 girls from Furzedown excitedly wondered what was going to happen next…

Within a week to 10 days the alevin (the first stage of a young trout after it has hatched) usually begin to emerge from the eggs.  From then on,  it’s up to the kids to keep the little fry healthy until they release them into the Wandle at the end of March!

Many thanks to our volunteers: Dave, Henry, Jez, John O, John P, and Richard

To help the Wandle Trust continue to deliver a spectrum of successful projects, from Trout in the Classroom to community cleanups and river restoration, we’re looking for a part-time book-keeper for 2-3 days every month.

Working as a freelance contractor, you’ll be paid £15 – £25 per hour, and ideally you’ll already have experience of: 

• Purchase and sales ledger functions, plus cashbook journals and bank reconciliation
• Preparing budgets
• Computerised accounting systems, plus knowledge of Word, Excel and databases
• Good understanding of funding and grants

The role will include: 

• Maintaining the accounting records for the Trust (including monthly update for income and expenditure transactions)
• Undertaking bank reconciliations
• Reclaiming Gift Aid from HMRC on all donations
• Providing financial information for grant applications
• Preparing a draft annual budget and year end accounts
• Providing financial administrative support to the Trust Director 

Interested? You can download full details by clicking here, and applications close on Friday 24 February 2012.

The Natural Environment Research Council recently visited the Wandle to interview the Wandle Trust’s Director Bella Davies (along with our good friends Angela Gurnell, Dave Webb and Tom Sweeney) for the internationally-respected Planet Earth podcast.

Click here to listen to the Wandle’s panel of experts talking about the success of our recent river restoration works in Carshalton (00:29 – 10:20) before moving upriver to Wandle Park (16:05 – 20:24) to discuss the imminent deculverting of the Wandle’s Croydon arm.

A transcript of the programme is also available: click here if you’d rather read than listen!