Improving the Cuttle Brook river bed

On Cuttle Brook Nature Reserve, the volunteers guided by experts from the River Thame Conservation Trust, will be taking advantage of the low flows to push ahead with the next phase of their licensed river improvements project. The work, currently scheduled for 20^th May, or as soon as practical afterwards, will involve filling a ‘sediment sink’ – a large pothole that slows flow and collects unwanted silt – that was found in the river bed during a 2023/4 survey. Up to 18 tonnes of gravel will be deposited over about 15m of river to regulate the gradient of the bed, improving flows and with additional benefits of enhancing natural habitat for invertebrates and conditions for spawning fish.

The gravel will be delivered by lorry to the newly fenced meadow above Watkins’ Bridge, near to the site of the ‘sink’ and it is not expected that there will be any disruption to access to the main meadows or the rest of the reserve.

The work is part of a multi-year scheme based on the 2023/4 topographical survey that has so far seen the removal of a redundant weir, the construction of wetland scrapes and the creation of natural habitat structures.