ARK - Action for the River Kennet.

Our conservation grazers in Cooper's Meadow, the water meadow next to the Kennet in the centre of Marlborough have today gone home.
Thank you to our ARK volunteer sheep lookers, without whom we couldn't do this ongoing project 🐏 and thank you to the sheep owners too. #biodiversity

#BigRiverWatch on the Kennet on the east of Marlborough. Thank you volunteer Zoe!
Do join in this national survey run by The Rivers Trust anytime between now and 25th September.
For more detail:
theriverstrust.org/take-action/...

Day 4 Connecting the Kennet, our community river habitat improvement project.
More volunteers donned waders and did a superb job working together to establish a healthy natural riverbank of native marginal plants in this internationally rare chalk stream. #riverrestoration

River School with 2nd Marlborough Cubs exploring areas with good flow, clean riverbed and aquatic plants to collect invertebrates, to indentify. As the light went Cubs used our bat detectors, to listen and watch Daubenton's bats hunting above the Kennet.
#biodiversity #loveyourriver #waterquality

Fish passage restored
A 1 metre wide notch has been cut into County Lock Weir, Reading to benefit fast swimming fish species.
Read our project summary:
www.yumpu.com/en/document/...
Thanks to our project partners the EA, Canal & River Trust FiveRivers and Robert Nicholas. #fishmigration

Day 3 on our #ConnectingtheKennet river habitat improvement project.
More fabulous volunteers, including new faces coppiced trees, used these for backfill in the buffer we're creating along the riverbank; and planted lots of flag iris, purple loosestrife & figwort. #healthyrivers #community

A huge congratulations to our Education & Outreach Manager Anna Forbes, who is the winner of the #BBCMakeADifference Green Award 2025!
Anna is a passionate & committed advocate for our chalk streams & their wildlife; along with educating, inspiring & involving the community of all ages #chalkstream

Day 2 for our Connecting the Kennet project.
Rain did not stop our fantastic volunteers from making plenty of progress improving this stretch of chalk stream in Marlborough.
To volunteer for ARK - Action for the River Kennet email anna@kennetandpang.org
#chalkstream #community

Before & After
Coppicing trees yesterday on the riverbank at our successful Team Stream project, which was 10 years ago at the rear of Waitrose Marlborough.
This has:
Created a better balance of light and shade
Provided backfill 4 our new project upstream
Given the community a view of their river

Our Education and Outreach Manager Anna has been in Bristol today attending the #wildsummituk
An inspiring day celebrating nature with plenty of discussions on the actions, investment and partnerships needed to restore our natural world.
We all need nature, with clean, flowing rivers being key.

Day 1 of our #ConnectingtheKennet project, improving healthy river habitat connectivity in Marlborough.
Our volunteers did a brilliant job today, building a brushwood mattress from hazel faggots they'd made last autumn. More green engineering over the coming days! #chalkstream #volunteer

A HUGE thank you to our volunteer team today who loaded up and unloaded the truck 4 times with faggots and posts, ready for the start of our Connecting the Kennet River habitat improvement project tomorrow.
#volunteers #riverrestoration

Our Education & Outreach Manager Anna is a finalist in the BBC Wiltshire Radio Make a Difference Awards.
Anna has been shortlisted for The Green Award & will find out later this month if she has won. BBC's Dom Cotter caught up with her at the river www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... 51:58 in.
#rivers

Our volunteers took the ARK stand to Marlborough Town Council's Wild Marlborough - Get Connected event.
Showcasing the different organisations and initiatives improving the town's biodiversity and how to get involved.
#chalkstream #biodiversity #community

ARK volunteers Tony & Barry have been on the Pang with our Project Officer James learning how to maintain our continuous monitoring equipment. The sondes kit takes a reading every 15 minutes for oxygen levels, temperature, nutrient concentrations (nitrate & ammonia), conductivity, pH and turbidity.

Our interpretive panels are kept clean by our volunteers. This one next to the Kennet by Cooper's Meadow, Marlborough has had the frame and legs painted and a panel clean.
Thank you 😊
#volunteers #riverkennet #chalkstream

ARK is pleased planners have listened to us, the EA & Natural England & have refused planning permission for the proposed poultry unit to house 32,000 chickens at Hamstead Marshall.
ARK played a key role providing evidence & advice to the excellent local &national campaigners who objected to this.

Our Annual Member's Riverbank Walk 2025 - Saturday 4th October.
Start between 1.30pm - 2.30pm.
An opportunity to walk the private and beautiful banks of the Kennet at The Wilderness Fishery, Kintbury.
Not a member? Join on the day!
www.kennetandpang.org/events/detai...
#chalkstream

6 days of water vole surveying on the Kennet completed on our P4N project at The Wilderness.
On Friday we had 2 of our DofE volunteers with us, learning how to spot signs of water water and helping with surveying. Thank you to all our #citizenscience vole volunteers💙🙌
#chalkstream

Our trained volunteer water vole surveyors carried out more surveying on Thursday on the Kennet at The Wilderness, Kintbury.
More signs identified, logged & mapped.
The surveys are part of our P4N project, in advance of phase 2 river restoration works to improve this stretch of #chalkstream

Our trained water vole surveying volunteers today on the Kennet recording signs of this keystone species, putting flags on the riverbank to mark up significant areas in advance of the P4N phase 2 river restoration works.
Thanks to today's team.
To volunteer email anna@kennetandpang.org
#volunteer

Water voles are part of a healthy river ecosystem.
Our P4N project volunteer water vole survey training day today at The Wilderness, Kintbury has enabled us to train up more volunteers to help us with surveying for Britain's fastest declining mammal on the Kennet.

This morning on the Kennet at Eastridge Estate, our Director Charlotte Hitchmough, our Education and Outreach Manager Anna Forbes, with River Keeper Jack Uridge discussing several pollution issues on this iconic chalk stream and what can be done with Danny Kruger MP.
#chalkstream #riverkennet

That's a wrap! The final River School of this academic year. Burbage Primary had a wonderful time.
Thanks to:
Our River School funders making it possible for us to work with 2,000 students a year
The fisheries, keepers & other riparian landowners
A gigantic thanks to our River School volunteers 🙌🙌🙌

We are supporting #sportfishriversmonth
encouraging everyone to do something positive for their river
Our Education & Outreach Manager Anna has been running a Riverfly Refresher for our trained volunteer monitors, hear why our newest riverfly monitor has got involved.
#citizenscience #chalkstream

A fantastic screening of Britain's Hidden Fishes followed by a Q&A with it's maker Jack Perks at The Parade Cinema Marlborough this evening. Drinks kindly sponsored by Ramsbury Brewery.
Thanks to everyone who came supported this ARK fundraiser. Massive thanks to Jack for making such a superb film!

A brilliant amount achieved on the Kennet today by a corporate team from James Cowper Kreston, Newbury.
The team worked with us to harvest stream water-crowfoot at Minal, then plant at Kintbury.
Thanks to JCK for your hard work today & for supporting us!
#chalkstream #conservation

23rd July a special screening of 'Britain's Hidden Fishes' with Q&A session. Last few tickets available.

Join us at The Parade Cinema Marlborough for an evening with Jack Perks, maker of Britain's Hidden Fishes.

Book tickets here:
www.theparadecinema.com/movie/ark-br...

#Rivers #fish

The @wildtrouttrust.bsky.social get together this year returns to the Kennet.
This morning is a packed programme of talks and this afternoon we will visit 4 projects ARK - Action for the River Kennet are involved in.
#chalkstream #browntrout

A great day in the Kennet running a Riverfly Partnership accredited Riverfly Monitoring Training Workshop for new volunteers.
We will continue to support these volunteers, some will take on new riverfly sites, whilst others take over existing sites.
Training was part of our P4N project.