Help us to preserve one of our loveliest rivers
an essential part of our national heritage
Welcome to our web page! We are a small group of people
whose concern is with the River Wye and its tributaries, from its source
at Plynlimon in the Welsh hills to its mouth in the Severn Estuary at
Chepstow. Read more about us here.
The replica Wye Trow “The Hereford Bull”
"The Hereford Bull" was officially named
recently by The Countess of Darnley, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Herefordshire
and blessed by the Reverend Michael Tavinor, Dean of Hereford, at a
service in High Town, Hereford, during which the vessel was baptized
in traditional naval manner with a flagon of Herefordshire cider.
"The Hereford Bull” will be representing
Herefordshire and carrying HM Lord-Lieutenant in the Thames Diamond Jubilee pageant on 3rd
June 2012


THE
BIG UPPER WYE CLEAR UP COMPLETED!
The twelve-week initiative to clear litter from the upper river Wye has been successfully completed.
From the start of February, groups of volunteers
organised by the Wye & Usk Foundation (WUF) with support from
Keep Wales Tidy (KWT) and the River Wye Preservation Trust (RWPT),
have been removing litter from the river’s source at Plynlimon downstream to Builth Wells and beyond, including the tributary streams. In addition to the practical benefits of removing the litter, The Big Upper Wye Litter Clear Up also draws attention to the amount of rubbish and other pollutants being allowed to enter the highly protected river Wye.
116 volunteers were involved in the project, and 596 sacks of litter and larger items were removed from 103 miles of river and stream.
Big items: a car radiator, a lawnmower and a deep freeze.
Worryingly: several drums containing agricultural and mechanical chemicals that damage the aquatic environment.
Over 60% of the litter is believed to be of agricultural origin.
Last year in a similar exercise on the rivers Lugg and Arrow 220 volunteers cleared 767 sacks of rubbish from another 100 miles of river and stream, 61% of which was agricultural.
See the full press release here.
Congratulations to Tony Norman, who initiated and ran the campaign!
For more information, here is a blog and
map: http://www.wyeuskfoundation.org/projects/bigupperwyeclearup.php
A few pictures from
the expeditions:
Setting off:
Below: drums of
chemicals
in all, what a
danger to aquatic life!
More pictures
below:
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A twelve week initiative to clear litter from the
upper river Wye has been launched by Keep Wales Tidy
and the Wye & Usk Foundation,
with support from the River Wye
Preservation Trust. See here
for more details.
A very enjoyable
RWPT AGM
was held on Friday 25th November 2011 at the Bunch of
Carrots, Hampton Bishop. After the formal business, Dr Stephen Marsh Smith OBE,
executive director of the
Wye & Usk
Foundation, gave a presentation on the history of salmon fishing in
the area, and proposed changes to the current river management systems.
We regret to announce the death of John
Williams, long term member and co-founder of the Trust, on Monday 5th
September 2011, aged 82 years. The funeral, which was very well
attended, was held on Friday 16th September at the
Church of St John the Baptist, Kings Caple.
The 2011 Summer Walk
A
successful summer walk was
held
on
the River Monnow at Monnow Lodge, Walterstone, on Sunday 14
August at
2.15 p.m., by kind permission of Mrs V Bailey and Mr R Davies and the Monnow
Rivers Association. Click here
for pictures and details.
Minister supports local plans for River Wye. See more here
The Government has withdrawn
its recent consultation
document on the future of England’s public forest estate, which
had
caused a storm of controversy.
Read more here.
The Nation's favourite river
 
Last
November, the
River
Wye was voted the nation's favourite river. See more
Our Rivers,
BBC: 'Timeless' river Wye is voted the public's favourite,
Cotswold
Life,
County
Times,
fishnews,
RSPB,
WWF
There is also a good YouTube video here,
and an article from
The Country Life
( in the Town & Country Section, November 2010) here.

Last winter's pictures of the frozen Wye:

... and round about:

2010
AGM
The Trust's AGM 2010 was held on Thursday 25
November, and we enjoyed a fascinating talk by
David Lovelace on The role of rivers in the development of farming and woodland management in
Herefordshire.
In Spring 2010, we completed the
Native Woodland Restoration in Herefordshire
project. Click here
for the Project Summary Report.
David has recently published an article on the project in
the Herefordshire Nature Trust Magazine. You can read it
here.
A
very successful and enjoyable annual Trust walk was held at Caradoc, Nr
Ross-on-Wye on Thursday 15th July 2010 by kind permission of Major Patrick Darling.
More details here.
One
of our major concerns is erosion and pollution
of the river Wye, and the state of its banks. These must be reported by
phone directly to the Environment
Agency on 0800 80 70 60, (24 hour service) giving location and grid
reference if possible.
These attractive maps of the Upper and Lower Wye would
are still available:


They can be
obtained (unframed) from The River Wye Preservation Trust, 35
Link Road, Hereford, HR1 1BG,
at £20 in colour as seen, or £10 in black and white. Email
info@rwpt.net
for more information
One of our recent concerns has been the Severn
Barrage. We were worried not only by its possible ecological
consequences, but also by whether it would even be capable of
delivering what was promised for it, and we were pleased when the Government
announced that they had
dropped
plans for it.
Last Autumn we published our book, Landscape Origins of the
Wye Valley. For more details, including how to order, click here:

But
hurry! There are no hard backs left, and only a very few hundred soft backs!
See pictures of the
launch.
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