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Mike Blackmore

@blacky-himself.bsky.social

Environmentalist, Conservationist, River-restorationist! Opinions expressed are my own #RiverRestoration

584 Followers  |  165 Following  |  57 Posts  |  Joined: 30.11.2024
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Posts by Mike Blackmore (@blacky-himself.bsky.social)

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Winterbournes are rivers that dry in the summer and start flowing again in the winter. Chalk winterbournes are super rare but mostly degraded.
Here's one being restored...

23.01.2026 17:54 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Travelled up to Birmingham again to help workshop the governments long-term beaver management plan.
Super interesting stuff

22.01.2026 20:06 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Morning all! β˜€οΈ
#Wiltshire #Woodland #WessexWandering

14.01.2026 09:04 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Early start to head up to Birmingham. Talking about a national strategy for beavers with ⁦DEFRA

27.11.2025 06:25 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The true pros!

19.11.2025 19:00 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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We don’t really do β€œleaky dams”!

19.11.2025 18:25 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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Tricky commute this time of year...

13.11.2025 18:13 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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De-silting vs Dredging.
They're not the same thing!

Isolating a section of river to remove excesss fine silt and restore natural channel dimensions and habitat. #river #restoration #ChalkStream #conservation

01.11.2025 16:21 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Interesting time at the River Guardian Summit with @paulpowlesland.bsky.social and @lawyersfornature.bsky.social over the weekend.

Amazing venue, passionate people, great food and great conversations

22.10.2025 05:46 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Presentation slide showing a beaver-shorn tree on one side and a similarly fuelled tree with a man weilding a chainsaw

Presentation slide showing a beaver-shorn tree on one side and a similarly fuelled tree with a man weilding a chainsaw

@blacky-himself.bsky.social seeing you bested by a beaver at the @colnecan.bsky.social conference 😜

21.10.2025 09:29 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

If AI doesn't make me redundant, aquatic rodents will!
Maybe I should take up thatching...

21.10.2025 12:30 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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"Supplimenting" a species.
Helping expand the endangered white-clawed crayfish population of the upper River Itchen
#ChalkStream #conservation #crayfish

16.10.2025 09:39 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Fish live in trees. Sometimes fallen trees need managing, but every bit we can keep in the water is valuable habitat

20.09.2025 14:55 β€” πŸ‘ 87    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
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β€œGlamorous”

21.08.2025 09:45 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The Test with Mike Blackmore and Neil Swift Podcast Episode Β· The Fly Culture Podcast Β· 30/07/2025 Β· 1h 5m

Un-stocked, un-manicured, proper wild catch-and-release fly fishing on the (restored) River Test!
We very happily explained this approach on the Fly Culture podcast.

Apple podcast
podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/t...

Spotify link
open.spotify.com/episode/6Kgu...

#flyfishing #ChalkStream #trout

31.07.2025 10:50 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Final report into 'broken' water industry says regulator Ofwat should be scrapped - live updates The major review led by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe was issued by the government to

So long Ofwat, and thanks for all the (dead) fish!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c4...

21.07.2025 06:11 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I think BBOWT have done some good river restoration. They might share some case studies

11.07.2025 20:10 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Restoring a dredged river.
Awesome result!
#RiverRestoration #ChalkStream #conservation #habitatrestoration

11.07.2025 18:20 β€” πŸ‘ 125    πŸ” 17    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1

Is a good question! Some of us are trying to pull together just that. The currently available guides are now horribly dated.
There are places you can go for free advice though. What river is it for?

11.07.2025 18:19 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Flashback to 2015 when a community restored their local river with almost no budget.

An Environment Agency and Wild Trout Trust partnership project
@wildtrouttrust.bsky.social

06.07.2025 10:35 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A few tickets left:
www.orvis.co.uk/products/uk-...

30.06.2025 18:50 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Out yesterday with @fishtwitcher.bsky.social and came across something private 😳

20.06.2025 16:12 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks for coming down Jack. And thanks to Dan and Kirsty too! Sorry I had to dash off so quickly

20.06.2025 11:56 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Blacky_Himself's Creator Profile

Yeah… well… why not?! #TikTok
www.tiktok.com/@blacky_hims...

20.06.2025 11:55 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Out today doing my β€œother job”, managing the River Wylye. Seems like every work party we come across new signs from our wild #ChalkStream beavers 🦫🌳🐟

I hold a license but so far haven’t encountered a single problem requiring intervention.

14.06.2025 15:10 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Before ☠️ and after 🐟🌱:
This is what makes the job so worthwhile #ChalkStream #RiverRestoration

Recommendations from a @wildtrouttrust.bsky.social report, followed up and delivered by Wessex Rivers Trust

14.06.2025 06:23 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 2

bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…
Delighted that the 2 main water companies in the Wessex region, Wessex Water and Southern Water are banned from issuing executive bonuses this year.

However this is just one step on the journey, with further reform required from the industry and regulators

06.06.2025 07:45 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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Without a β€˜complete’ ecosystem we’ll always have winners and losers…

28.05.2025 17:55 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Project Officer The Project Officer will be responsible for developing, preparing and delivering a range of projects, from concept to completion. Projects will range from small, community-led habitat improvements ...

We’re #hiring!
Join a team creating and restoring some of the rarest habitats in the world, the iconic rivers and chalk streams of the Wessex region.
environmentjob.co.uk/jobs/105833-...

17.05.2025 09:01 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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13.05.2025 13:47 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0