We had quite a drop of rain in the night which has lifted the river slightly.  The forecast is for more rain over the next 48 hours so we might get sufficient flow early next week to make river fishing a better proposition than it's been for the past couple of weeks.

I have been looking at the latest papers about the new bridle way that will run from Low Moor (opposite Borrins) cross the river above the Tarn and run up river to join the track at Dale Mire.  The new route that has been submitted to the Secretary of State for approval runs beyond the field wall on the east bank of the river well away from the river margin.  The plan is to begin detailed design work at the end of this year on the bridge which will carry the bridleway across the river with construction scheduled for summer 2009.  The MAA will be consulted about both the bridge design and the construction of the route to ensure that there is no interference with our legal right to access and fish the river and that  the environmental impact is kept to an absolute minimum.  I think that we should encourage Natural England who are the sponsors of the scheme to include habitat measures that will benefit the ecology of the river corridor.  We  should encourage them to include a few native trees in the scheme and perhaps put up an information board to inform users why the fencing is in place, what wildlife may be seen here, how wild fish are being encouraged and what we do to provide effective stewardship of the river.

There will be a sore temptation to get to the river at the crossing point, but if the reasons why exclusion is necessary are explained (not just rural bloody mindedness) I think most will understand and comply.

Ian