Thames-side
beauty spot restored
Environment Agency
The Environment Agency has been working in partnership with local
riverside residents from the Hennerton Backwater Association (HBA)
to restore a former beauty spot and improve navigation for canoeists
and small boat users. The area is a one and a half mile loop backwater
of the Thames, between Wargrave and Henley-on-Thames.
The restoration and river navigation project was completed early
July with an investment of £8,200 by the agency, and over
1,000 volunteer man-hours by local residents, over four winters.
Navigation has been restored through a combination of stabilising
river-banks and clearing over-grown trees.
The Agency formally set up partnership with HBA in April 2003
to ensure better management of river-bed levels and improve navigation
for the backwater - a haven for wildlife and a popular and picturesque
spot for canoeing, boating, and with local residents. The project
followed extensive work that dedicated members of the HBA carried
out themselves, with 1,000+ man-hours that entailed clearing dozens
of over-hanging and submerged trees.
Agency ecologists met with HBA members to discuss the best methods
to remove increasing silt in the backwater to ensure the river
area was once again navigable, following its gradual demise since
the late-1990s. It was agreed the most beneficial method was to
strategically plant 100 metres of hazel faggots and coir fibre
rolls to narrow the channel, which would increase the speed of
the river. This would remove built-up silt on the river-bed, enabling
it to return to its natural gravel, with the coir rolls planted
with indigenous species to attract butterflies and insects, providing
a greatly increased spawning habitat.
Peter Collins, Agency flood defence officer said: "Hennerton
Backwater is a beautiful, tranquil area, ideal for small boats,
punts, canoes and kayaks which had become virtually impassable
in the late ‘90s. Local residents have done a great deal
of physical, hard work to clear the backwater of tree debris on
a year-by-year basis. The Agency was pleased to form the partnership
with the HBA, which aims to maintain a clear channel, both width
and depth, using a sustainable, no maintenance method. The project
has ensured the cleared area is navigable for boat users now and
into the future."
Philip Meadowcroft, secretary of HBA commented: "Members
and friends of the HBA have a common interest in preserving the
beauty, nature and heritage of the backwater. The Environment
Agency has been approving and encouraging in the results we have
achieved so far. The partnership is a very positive one and we
greatly value the close ties that have developed with Agency staff."
Famously mentioned in Jerome K. Jerome’s book, "Three
Men in a Boat", the backwater is one of the
Thames’ hidden treasures. A haven for canoes
and pleasure boats, and also for wildlife, generations
of children have learned the basic skills of boatmanship
in its safe, calm and quiet conditions. Through
the work of the HBA and the Agency, future generations
will continue to do
so.
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