Unlocking the River Severn
Interview with Xenia Goudefroy and Craig Brown
In this article, we focus on the importance of conservation and how this is vital to protect and preserve wildlife for future generations. With this in mind we interviewed Xenia Goudefroy, Management Accountant, and Craig Brown, Project Manager, Bosch UK, who are volunteers on the ‘Unlocking the Severn’ project in Worcester, focusing on, people, wildlife, and unlocking the UK’s longest river.
Hi Xenia and Craig, so can you start by explaining what the project is - what does it mean to ‘unlock’ the Severn?
The Severn is the longest river in the UK flowing for 223 miles right from its source in Plynlimon, Wales all the way to the Bristol Channel. During the industrial revolution trade and economy took centre stage in government policy, while wildlife preservation and ecosystem equilibrium took a back seat. This encouraged the many weirs and lock gates to be built on the Severn in the 1840’s to make the river navigable throughout the year and remove the dependence on tidal and seasonal effects. However, all of this ‘progress’ was very detrimental to the migratory fish population, which fell off a cliff almost overnight as they were not able to reach their natural spawning grounds all the way up north near Welshpool. This was especially detrimental to the population of the twait shad – one of the UK’s rarest fish - who cannot jump over the weirs like salmon.
This is where the ‘Unlocking the Severn’ project comes in, where the project’s aim is to unlock over 150 miles of the river to enable the shad and other endangered migratory fish species to reach their natural spawning grounds. The river is unlocked through the installation of a series of fish passes and partial weir removals along the Severn. The largest of these fish passes is located at Diglis in Worcester, which is a deep slot vertical fish pass. It is more than 100m in length and 5m wide with 10 vertical concrete slots which slows the water enough to enable the fish to bypass the weir. The most special feature of this fish pass is a viewing gallery 8 metres below the banks of the river. It has the largest natural underwater viewing window in the UK. This allows data collection on fish movement, monitoring migration schedules etc. to help us to better understand the Severn’s biodiversity. It also provides the public with the opportunity to observe the Severn under water and to view the fish as they make their way upstream.
What drew you both towards volunteering with the “Unlocking the Severn” project?
We moved to Worcester just before the pandemic which then did not give us an opportunity to explore and engage with the local community. During the lockdowns, where we could only go out for exercise we had cycled along the banks of the river and seen sign boards of this significant construction project. We were curious to know more and with some digging on the web, we found out more about the project and were introduced to volunteering opportunities. We had some discussions with the project team and were happy to get on board and offer our help, as we found the project fascinating both from an engineering and wildlife conservation point of view.
What activities do you get involved in when volunteering on the project?
We are the volunteer ‘Diglis Island and fish pass’ tour guides. For those who do not know, Diglis Island was a manmade island on the Severn that was made by cutting through the mainland to enable the weir and lock gates construction. This island also was home to a workshop which serviced the entire lock network on the Severn and the associated canals. This place has a lot of historical significance to the navigability of the Severn.
We want to share this story with the public and so run free tours of the island and slowly make our way over to the fish pass and highlight the importance of the project, its objectives and wildlife conservation. We also take the group of visitors down to the viewing gallery hoping that this exciting part of the tour will inspire them to take care of our rivers and share these stories with others.
How can you get involved in local conservation?
The Canal and River Trust are always welcoming new volunteers across the country to maintain the canals and waterways which encourages the wildlife to thrive. There are several opportunities as part of the ‘Unlocking the Severn’ project as well. One way to join is to become part of a ‘green team’ creating wildlife habitats or educate people and children about the rivers as part of the ‘explorers education’ group. You can also volunteer on Diglis Island as a fish pass tour guide. There are arts opportunities too with people sharing and celebrating stories about the river. If you are interested in carrying out a more calm, relaxed task, you can help gathering important information about the fish by counting and monitoring.
Everyone is welcome to come along to one of the open days or tours at the Diglis fish pass. There will be plenty of tours from this spring at the start of the new spawning season.
What skills have you gained from volunteering and how does this support your work at Bosch?
Firstly, the project has helped us to learn and gain a wide knowledge of the heritage of the River Severn and an awareness of our environment and sustainability. Also, it was a great opportunity to develop skills and get creative. We have been provided basic information for the tours, but they have left it to us how we are going to present this to the visitors and how we are going to capture their attention. This is a great way to gain confidence in speaking in front of a large audience, which we can apply at our work at Bosch as well.
Also, volunteering gives us the opportunity to generate ideas on how to adapt existing Bosch technology for wider applications. As an example, at the underwater viewing gallery there is a camera that detects fish swimming past the window, recording their movements and sending the data over to a team of people analysing these recordings.