Bidwell Brook
Partnership
info@bidwellbrook.org
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Bidwell Brook Partnership
Creating a nature-rich landscape where people and wildlife flourish, clean water flows and farms and businesses thrive.
We are a mix of local organisations, farms, businesses, and individuals who are working together to improve the Bidwell brook, which flows through Rattery and Dartington and joins the River Dart Just above the weir at Totnes.
Home to iconic species including otters, kingfishers and, within living memory, brown trout and even salmon. The Brook rises in Rattery and winds its way through the beautiful Bidwell Valley and Dartington, before entering the River Dart at Totnes. Although the Brook is only 9,489km (just under 6 miles) long, it has a catchment area, including its various tributaries, of 13.107 km2/1310.67 ha.
Whilst it still looks beautiful in many sections, all is not well with this small but important stretch of water. So, concerned local groups and individuals have come together to form the Bidwell Brook Partnership (BBP) to help conserve, nurture and restore this valuable habitat. Our work has become all the more urgent due to the impact of global warming on local flooding, drought and effects on wildlife.
Why The Bidwell
Water quality improvements are urgently needed
It’s just not good enough: The Bidwell Brook is classified as ‘moderate ecological status’, for the reasons shown in Table 1. This must be returned to ‘good’, not only for the sake of wildlife, but also for people, whose health is potentially impacted due to the relatively high number of sewage outfalls on the Brook, which then flows into the River Dart. Significant challenges: housing development in Dartington, some farming practices within the catchment as a whole and private sewage discharges are all contributing to the problems. These need to be dealt with on a whole catchment basis (as highlighted in Table 2). We all need to work together and support each other to achieve improvements - statutory organisations, landowners, farmers, businesses, environmental groups and individuals. The Bidwell Brook Partnership aims to help by bringing these together, with the Bidwell Brook as its focus.
Who we are
The Bidwell Brook Partnership (BBP) is a forward-thinking initiative spearheaded by Dartington and Rattery Parish Councils. Launched in 2023, this collaborative endeavour unites local organisations, farms, businesses, and residents to forge a nature-rich landscape where both people and wildlife can thrive.
The partnership’s goals are ambitious but essential: ensuring clean water flows, supporting flourishing wildlife, and creating opportunities for sustainable farming and businesses.
The Partnership includes Dartington Parish Council, Rattery Parish Council, the Rattery Environment Group, Heart of Dartington The Friends of the Dart, the Dartington Recreation Association, Dartington Hall Trust and The Apricot Centre.
The BBP works closely with key organisations, including South West Water, Westcountry Rivers Trust, the Environment Agency, South Devon Catchments Partnership, Devon Wildlife Trust.
Our most important partners are, however, the farmers in the catchment and local people who live, work or own land in the Bidwell Valley.
We are very open to welcoming anyone else who may wish to join us - just email us on: info@bidwellbrook.org
Our Aims
The Bidwell Brook Partnership aims to help:
Our Actions
Our initial actions included:
Actions and Outcomes and Plans
Water Quality
With support from the West Country Rivers Trust, a team of 20 citizens scientists monitored water quality monthly for over a year to make a baseline assessment of water quality. Testing in collaboration with SWW and Friends of the Dart assessed the level of bacterial contamination.
Outcome:
South West Water has included in its capital programme the works necessary to(a) reduce to zero discharges from the Combined Storm Overflows in Dartington and (b) upgrade the capacity of the water treatment works in Rattery.
Households with private sewage treatment systems within 50 m of a water course will be offered testing services and advice.
Farmer Engagement
Landowners in the catchment were consulted and represented on the BBP Steering Group. The BBP engaged with South West Water.
Outcome:
The Bidwell Brook catchment has been included in SWW’s Upstream Thinking programme and the Bat Conservation Trust’s Connecting People and Landscapes programme. Both programmes deploy professional farm advisers to actively engage, encourage and support farms to manage their land in catchment sensitive way. A cluster of farms committed to catchment sensitive practice ,with a hub at Parsonage Farm on the Dartington Estate, is being created in the catchment.
Advisory support has been given to landowners to develop woodland management plans.
Continuing Research
The BBP is working with the University of Plymouth’s BactiQuick research programme. helping to refine the BactiQuick methodology of measuring bacterial contamination within minutes rather than days.
The programme collects a wide range of data covering all the key physical, chemical and biological parameters. Our Citizen Scientists will help to collect this data, and will, in particular investigate patterns of turbidity.
Outcome: Over the next 12 months the programme will build a very detailed and very accurate understanding of the catchment in all weather conditions providing the best possible baseline for planning.
Wildlife Corridor
This Spring/Summer, working with the Devon Biodiversity Records Centre, we will map the land use and habitats of a riparian corridor from source to mouth of the Bidwell. This will refined through field work and engagement with farmers and landowners.
Citizen scientists will concentrate on monitoring wild life, particularly bats as a key indicator species. (Rattery is the home to a significant roost of Long-eared Bats.)
Outcome: A long term collaborative plan to create a mosaic of habitats to establish a wildlife corridor along the length of the Bidwell from the woodlands above Rattery to Queen’s Marsh in Dartington.
How You Can Help
There are lots of ways everyone can help:
Become a Citizen Science Investigator
Contact us if you would be interested in joining our team of Citizen Scientists. Your role would be to take and analyse monthly water samples from the Bidwell Brook. This will produce data that can be used to target work and identify degrading water bodies and help to spot pollution events so they can be dealt with as quickly as possible. You will be part of a network of catchment communities that are invested in their local environment. Training will be provided. For further details of what’s involved, see Westcountry CSI - Westcountry Rivers Trust (wrt.org.uk)
Use Water Wisely
We can all do our bit to clean up our environment. South West Water have some great tips and advice for using water: Saving water in your home , garden and at work (southwestwater.co.uk)
Clean Up Your Act
Do you have a private sewage outlet by the Brook? Please make sure it’s operating correctly and doesn’t discharge into the water. Do you have a problem with farming run-off? If you need help, expert advice or access to funding, contact us and we’ll do our best to support you.
Sponsor a kit
Water investigation kits cost £35 each, and the contents need to be replenished regularly. If you’d like to help by sponsoring a kit, please contact us and we’ll send you details on how you can easily do this.
Share Your Ideas
If you’ve got an idea about how we can help to improve the Bidwell Brook, do let us know. From Himalayan balsam clearing to wildlife monitoring, there’s lots we can do, together.
Share about us on Social Media
We do not have any social media presence, as yet. However, you can help raise awareness of our campaign by sharing any content from this site using the social media buttons at the bottom of each page. Contact us at info@bidwellbrook.org
Testing
Working with the University of Plymouth
Our testing regime is now based on our support for the University of Plymouth’s BactiQuick Project.
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/bactiquick
This project uses the Bidwell as a living laboratory accumulating a great range and amount of very accurate data about the catchment. This database will enable us to focus our plans and make our activities as effective as possible.
Programmes 2023
Bacterial Testing
• Testing for Ecoli, enterococcus and total coliforms • 16 week programme over the summer of 2023 • High standard data provided for future action plans Details: We are running a water quality testing programme over the summer, in collaboration with Friends of the Dart (FoD). This programme will help us identify and determine the extent and pattern of bacterial contamination in the Brook, particularly from the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) at Rattery. The data will complement that being obtained by the equivalent testing of the River Dart by FoD and of the lower reaches of the Bidwell Brook by SW Water. It will provide high quality baseline data (comparable to that obtained by the Environment Agency and SW Water) for the proposed BBP Catchment Plan. How: Twice weekly monitoring over 16 weeks. Where: Sites above and below the CSO at Rattery.
Citizen Science Investigations
• Producing data to target work and identify degrading water • Spotting pollution events for quick remedial action • Involving volunteers to help protect our local environment Details: We are running Citizen Science Investigations for at least 1 year, working in collaboration with the Westcountry Rivers Trust. We have teams involving over 30 volunteers, doing regular basic water quality testing. This will produce useful data as well as enabling people to learn and engage people with the water environment. The BBP volunteers will join a network of catchment communities that are invested in their local environment. How: Monthly monitoring, for a minimum of July 2023-July 2024. Where: At various sampling sites along the Bidwell Brook. Our grateful thanks are due to Friends of the Dart and Westcountry Rivers Trust and everyone who has donated to enable/support these testing programmes.
The work done by our Citizen Scientists enabled the West Country Rivers Trust to publish a Scorecard for the Bidwell. This shows that the catchment is in relatively good ecological health.
Wildlife
The Brook (and its valley) supports a wide range of plants and animals, including otters, eels and brown trout. We are aiming to have a full ecological assessment undertaken of the Brook, so we can take appropriate actions to conserve, nurture and maybe enable the return of former inhabitants, such as salmon. We’ll be expanding this section as we develop, but in the meantime, here are a few recent sightings: nicola crockford (@numenini) tweeted at 10:20 pm on Wed, May 31, 2023: With thanks to @popmoc, so special to snorkel his delightful stretch of Bidwell Brook, a tributary of the Dart which my Grandmother used to fly fish, in Week. Thrilling to find abundant Brown Trout living there - mostly small & quite shy. #MySwim #Dartington #Totnes #Devon nicola crockford (@numenini) tweeted at 10:21 pm on Wed, May 31, 2023: Disappointingly low visibility in Bidwell Brook, but plenty of Gammarus pulex freshwater shrimps - good food for the Trout. Saw no other fish species in the 300m stretch we swam. Quite a few Caddisfly larvae. Sadly, the invasive alien Signal Crayfish is there. #riverflies
Bidwell Brook Partnership
Bidwell Brook Partnership
Creating a nature-rich landscape where people and wildlife flourish, clean water flows and farms and businesses thrive.
We are a mix of local organisations, farms, businesses, and individuals who are working together to improve the Bidwell brook, which flows through Rattery and Dartington and joins the River Dart Just above the weir at Totnes.
Home to iconic species including otters, kingfishers and, within living memory, brown trout and even salmon. The Brook rises in Rattery and winds its way through the beautiful Bidwell Valley and Dartington, before entering the River Dart at Totnes. Although the Brook is only 9,489km (just under 6 miles) long, it has a catchment area, including its various tributaries, of 13.107 km2/1310.67 ha.
Whilst it still looks beautiful in many sections, all is not well with this small but important stretch of water. So, concerned local groups and individuals have come together to form the Bidwell Brook Partnership (BBP) to help conserve, nurture and restore this valuable habitat. Our work has become all the more urgent due to the impact of global warming on local flooding, drought and effects on wildlife.
Why The Bidwell
Water quality improvements are urgently needed
It’s just not good enough: The Bidwell Brook is classified as ‘moderate ecological status’, for the reasons shown in Table 1. This must be returned to ‘good’, not only for the sake of wildlife, but also for people, whose health is potentially impacted due to the relatively high number of sewage outfalls on the Brook, which then flows into the River Dart. Significant challenges: housing development in Dartington, some farming practices within the catchment as a whole and private sewage discharges are all contributing to the problems. These need to be dealt with on a whole catchment basis (as highlighted in Table 2). We all need to work together and support each other to achieve improvements - statutory organisations, landowners, farmers, businesses, environmental groups and individuals. The Bidwell Brook Partnership aims to help by bringing these together, with the Bidwell Brook as its focus.
Who we are
The Bidwell Brook Partnership (BBP) is a forward-thinking initiative spearheaded by Dartington and Rattery Parish Councils. Launched in 2023, this collaborative endeavour unites local organisations, farms, businesses, and residents to forge a nature-rich landscape where both people and wildlife can thrive.
The partnership’s goals are ambitious but essential: ensuring clean water flows, supporting flourishing wildlife, and creating opportunities for sustainable farming and businesses.
The Partnership includes Dartington Parish Council, Rattery Parish Council, the Rattery Environment Group, Heart of Dartington The Friends of the Dart, the Dartington Recreation Association, Dartington Hall Trust and The Apricot Centre.
The BBP works closely with key organisations, including South West Water, Westcountry Rivers Trust, the Environment Agency, South Devon Catchments Partnership, Devon Wildlife Trust.
Our most important partners are, however, the farmers in the catchment and local people who live, work or own land in the Bidwell Valley.
We are very open to welcoming anyone else who may wish to join us - just email us on: info@bidwellbrook.org
Our Aims
The Bidwell Brook Partnership aims to help:
Our Actions
Our initial actions included:
Actions and Outcomes and Plans
Water Quality
With support from the West Country Rivers Trust, a team of 20 citizens scientists monitored water quality monthly for over a year to make a baseline assessment of water quality. Testing in collaboration with SWW and Friends of the Dart assessed the level of bacterial contamination.
Outcome:
South West Water has included in its capital programme the works necessary to(a) reduce to zero discharges from the Combined Storm Overflows in Dartington and (b) upgrade the capacity of the water treatment works in Rattery.
Households with private sewage treatment systems within 50 m of a water course will be offered testing services and advice.
Farmer Engagement
Landowners in the catchment were consulted and represented on the BBP Steering Group. The BBP engaged with South West Water.
Outcome:
The Bidwell Brook catchment has been included in SWW’s Upstream Thinking programme and the Bat Conservation Trust’s Connecting People and Landscapes programme. Both programmes deploy professional farm advisers to actively engage, encourage and support farms to manage their land in catchment sensitive way. A cluster of farms committed to catchment sensitive practice ,with a hub at Parsonage Farm on the Dartington Estate, is being created in the catchment.
Advisory support has been given to landowners to develop woodland management plans.
Continuing Research
The BBP is working with the University of Plymouth’s BactiQuick research programme. helping to refine the BactiQuick methodology of measuring bacterial contamination within minutes rather than days.
The programme collects a wide range of data covering all the key physical, chemical and biological parameters. Our Citizen Scientists will help to collect this data, and will, in particular investigate patterns of turbidity.
Outcome: Over the next 12 months the programme will build a very detailed and very accurate understanding of the catchment in all weather conditions providing the best possible baseline for planning.
Wildlife Corridor
This Spring/Summer, working with the Devon Biodiversity Records Centre, we will map the land use and habitats of a riparian corridor from source to mouth of the Bidwell. This will refined through field work and engagement with farmers and landowners.
Citizen scientists will concentrate on monitoring wild life, particularly bats as a key indicator species. (Rattery is the home to a significant roost of Long-eared Bats.)
Outcome: A long term collaborative plan to create a mosaic of habitats to establish a wildlife corridor along the length of the Bidwell from the woodlands above Rattery to Queen’s Marsh in Dartington.
How You Can Help
There are lots of ways everyone can help:
Become a Citizen Science Investigator
Contact us if you would be interested in joining our team of Citizen Scientists. Your role would be to take and analyse monthly water samples from the Bidwell Brook. This will produce data that can be used to target work and identify degrading water bodies and help to spot pollution events so they can be dealt with as quickly as possible. You will be part of a network of catchment communities that are invested in their local environment. Training will be provided. For further details of what’s involved, see Westcountry CSI - Westcountry Rivers Trust (wrt.org.uk)
Use Water Wisely
We can all do our bit to clean up our environment. South West Water have some great tips and advice for using water: Saving water in your home , garden and at work (southwestwater.co.uk)
Clean Up Your Act
Do you have a private sewage outlet by the Brook? Please make sure it’s operating correctly and doesn’t discharge into the water. Do you have a problem with farming run-off? If you need help, expert advice or access to funding, contact us and we’ll do our best to support you.
Sponsor a kit
Water investigation kits cost £35 each, and the contents need to be replenished regularly. If you’d like to help by sponsoring a kit, please contact us and we’ll send you details on how you can easily do this.
Share Your Ideas
If you’ve got an idea about how we can help to improve the Bidwell Brook, do let us know. From Himalayan balsam clearing to wildlife monitoring, there’s lots we can do, together.
Share about us on Social Media
We do not have any social media presence, as yet. However, you can help raise awareness of our campaign by sharing any content from this site using the social media buttons at the bottom of each page. Contact us at info@bidwellbrook.org
Testing
Working with the University of Plymouth
Our testing regime is now based on our support for the University of Plymouth’s BactiQuick Project.
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/bactiquick
This project uses the Bidwell as a living laboratory accumulating a great range and amount of very accurate data about the catchment. This database will enable us to focus our plans and make our activities as effective as possible.
Programmes 2023
Bacterial Testing
• Testing for Ecoli, enterococcus and total coliforms • 16 week programme over the summer of 2023 • High standard data provided for future action plans Details: We are running a water quality testing programme over the summer, in collaboration with Friends of the Dart (FoD). This programme will help us identify and determine the extent and pattern of bacterial contamination in the Brook, particularly from the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) at Rattery. The data will complement that being obtained by the equivalent testing of the River Dart by FoD and of the lower reaches of the Bidwell Brook by SW Water. It will provide high quality baseline data (comparable to that obtained by the Environment Agency and SW Water) for the proposed BBP Catchment Plan. How: Twice weekly monitoring over 16 weeks. Where: Sites above and below the CSO at Rattery.
Citizen Science Investigations
• Producing data to target work and identify degrading water • Spotting pollution events for quick remedial action • Involving volunteers to help protect our local environment Details: We are running Citizen Science Investigations for at least 1 year, working in collaboration with the Westcountry Rivers Trust. We have teams involving over 30 volunteers, doing regular basic water quality testing. This will produce useful data as well as enabling people to learn and engage people with the water environment. The BBP volunteers will join a network of catchment communities that are invested in their local environment. How: Monthly monitoring, for a minimum of July 2023-July 2024. Where: At various sampling sites along the Bidwell Brook. Our grateful thanks are due to Friends of the Dart and Westcountry Rivers Trust and everyone who has donated to enable/support these testing programmes.
The work done by our Citizen Scientists enabled the West Country Rivers Trust to publish a Scorecard for the Bidwell. This shows that the catchment is in relatively good ecological health.
Wildlife
The Brook (and its valley) supports a wide range of plants and animals, including otters, eels and brown trout. We are aiming to have a full ecological assessment undertaken of the Brook, so we can take appropriate actions to conserve, nurture and maybe enable the return of former inhabitants, such as salmon. We’ll be expanding this section as we develop, but in the meantime, here are a few recent sightings: nicola crockford (@numenini) tweeted at 10:20 pm on Wed, May 31, 2023: With thanks to @popmoc, so special to snorkel his delightful stretch of Bidwell Brook, a tributary of the Dart which my Grandmother used to fly fish, in Week. Thrilling to find abundant Brown Trout living there - mostly small & quite shy. #MySwim #Dartington #Totnes #Devon nicola crockford (@numenini) tweeted at 10:21 pm on Wed, May 31, 2023: Disappointingly low visibility in Bidwell Brook, but plenty of Gammarus pulex freshwater shrimps - good food for the Trout. Saw no other fish species in the 300m stretch we swam. Quite a few Caddisfly larvae. Sadly, the invasive alien Signal Crayfish is there. #riverflies
Bidwell Brook Partnership
Bidwell Brook Partnership
Creating a nature-rich landscape where people and wildlife flourish, clean water flows and farms and businesses thrive.
We are a mix of local organisations, farms, businesses, and individuals who are working together to improve the Bidwell brook, which flows through Rattery and Dartington and joins the River Dart Just above the weir at Totnes.
Home to iconic species including otters, kingfishers and, within living memory, brown trout and even salmon. The Brook rises in Rattery and winds its way through the beautiful Bidwell Valley and Dartington, before entering the River Dart at Totnes. Although the Brook is only 9,489km (just under 6 miles) long, it has a catchment area, including its various tributaries, of 13.107 km2/1310.67 ha.
Whilst it still looks beautiful in many sections, all is not well with this small but important stretch of water. So, concerned local groups and individuals have come together to form the Bidwell Brook Partnership (BBP) to help conserve, nurture and restore this valuable habitat. Our work has become all the more urgent due to the impact of global warming on local flooding, drought and effects on wildlife.
Why The Bidwell
Water quality improvements are urgently needed
It’s just not good enough: The Bidwell Brook is classified as ‘moderate ecological status’, for the reasons shown in Table 1. This must be returned to ‘good’, not only for the sake of wildlife, but also for people, whose health is potentially impacted due to the relatively high number of sewage outfalls on the Brook, which then flows into the River Dart. Significant challenges: housing development in Dartington, some farming practices within the catchment as a whole and private sewage discharges are all contributing to the problems. These need to be dealt with on a whole catchment basis (as highlighted in Table 2). We all need to work together and support each other to achieve improvements - statutory organisations, landowners, farmers, businesses, environmental groups and individuals. The Bidwell Brook Partnership aims to help by bringing these together, with the Bidwell Brook as its focus.
Who we are
The Bidwell Brook Partnership (BBP) is a forward-thinking initiative spearheaded by Dartington and Rattery Parish Councils. Launched in 2023, this collaborative endeavour unites local organisations, farms, businesses, and residents to forge a nature-rich landscape where both people and wildlife can thrive.
The partnership’s goals are ambitious but essential: ensuring clean water flows, supporting flourishing wildlife, and creating opportunities for sustainable farming and businesses.
The Partnership includes Dartington Parish Council, Rattery Parish Council, the Rattery Environment Group, Heart of Dartington The Friends of the Dart, the Dartington Recreation Association, Dartington Hall Trust and The Apricot Centre.
The BBP works closely with key organisations, including South West Water, Westcountry Rivers Trust, the Environment Agency, South Devon Catchments Partnership, Devon Wildlife Trust.
Our most important partners are, however, the farmers in the catchment and local people who live, work or own land in the Bidwell Valley.
We are very open to welcoming anyone else who may wish to join us - just email us on: info@bidwellbrook.org
Our Aims
The Bidwell Brook Partnership aims to help:
Our Actions
Our initial actions included:
Actions and Outcomes and Plans
Water Quality
With support from the West Country Rivers Trust, a team of 20 citizens scientists monitored water quality monthly for over a year to make a baseline assessment of water quality. Testing in collaboration with SWW and Friends of the Dart assessed the level of bacterial contamination.
Outcome:
South West Water has included in its capital programme the works necessary to(a) reduce to zero discharges from the Combined Storm Overflows in Dartington and (b) upgrade the capacity of the water treatment works in Rattery.
Households with private sewage treatment systems within 50 m of a water course will be offered testing services and advice.
Farmer Engagement
Landowners in the catchment were consulted and represented on the BBP Steering Group. The BBP engaged with South West Water.
Outcome:
The Bidwell Brook catchment has been included in SWW’s Upstream Thinking programme and the Bat Conservation Trust’s Connecting People and Landscapes programme. Both programmes deploy professional farm advisers to actively engage, encourage and support farms to manage their land in catchment sensitive way. A cluster of farms committed to catchment sensitive practice ,with a hub at Parsonage Farm on the Dartington Estate, is being created in the catchment.
Advisory support has been given to landowners to develop woodland management plans.
Continuing Research
The BBP is working with the University of Plymouth’s BactiQuick research programme. helping to refine the BactiQuick methodology of measuring bacterial contamination within minutes rather than days.
The programme collects a wide range of data covering all the key physical, chemical and biological parameters. Our Citizen Scientists will help to collect this data, and will, in particular investigate patterns of turbidity.
Outcome: Over the next 12 months the programme will build a very detailed and very accurate understanding of the catchment in all weather conditions providing the best possible baseline for planning.
Wildlife Corridor
This Spring/Summer, working with the Devon Biodiversity Records Centre, we will map the land use and habitats of a riparian corridor from source to mouth of the Bidwell. This will refined through field work and engagement with farmers and landowners.
Citizen scientists will concentrate on monitoring wild life, particularly bats as a key indicator species. (Rattery is the home to a significant roost of Long-eared Bats.)
Outcome: A long term collaborative plan to create a mosaic of habitats to establish a wildlife corridor along the length of the Bidwell from the woodlands above Rattery to Queen’s Marsh in Dartington.
How You Can Help
There are lots of ways everyone can help:
Become a Citizen Science Investigator
Contact us if you would be interested in joining our team of Citizen Scientists. Your role would be to take and analyse monthly water samples from the Bidwell Brook. This will produce data that can be used to target work and identify degrading water bodies and help to spot pollution events so they can be dealt with as quickly as possible. You will be part of a network of catchment communities that are invested in their local environment. Training will be provided. For further details of what’s involved, see Westcountry CSI - Westcountry Rivers Trust (wrt.org.uk)
Use Water Wisely
We can all do our bit to clean up our environment. South West Water have some great tips and advice for using water: Saving water in your home , garden and at work (southwestwater.co.uk)
Clean Up Your Act
Do you have a private sewage outlet by the Brook? Please make sure it’s operating correctly and doesn’t discharge into the water. Do you have a problem with farming run-off? If you need help, expert advice or access to funding, contact us and we’ll do our best to support you.
Sponsor a kit
Water investigation kits cost £35 each, and the contents need to be replenished regularly. If you’d like to help by sponsoring a kit, please contact us and we’ll send you details on how you can easily do this.
Share Your Ideas
If you’ve got an idea about how we can help to improve the Bidwell Brook, do let us know. From Himalayan balsam clearing to wildlife monitoring, there’s lots we can do, together.
Share about us on Social Media
We do not have any social media presence, as yet. However, you can help raise awareness of our campaign by sharing any content from this site using the social media buttons at the bottom of each page. Contact us at info@bidwellbrook.org
Testing
Working with the University of Plymouth
Our testing regime is now based on our support for the University of Plymouth’s BactiQuick Project.
https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/research/bactiquick
This project uses the Bidwell as a living laboratory accumulating a great range and amount of very accurate data about the catchment. This database will enable us to focus our plans and make our activities as effective as possible.
Programmes 2023
Bacterial Testing
• Testing for Ecoli, enterococcus and total coliforms • 16 week programme over the summer of 2023 • High standard data provided for future action plans Details: We are running a water quality testing programme over the summer, in collaboration with Friends of the Dart (FoD). This programme will help us identify and determine the extent and pattern of bacterial contamination in the Brook, particularly from the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) at Rattery. The data will complement that being obtained by the equivalent testing of the River Dart by FoD and of the lower reaches of the Bidwell Brook by SW Water. It will provide high quality baseline data (comparable to that obtained by the Environment Agency and SW Water) for the proposed BBP Catchment Plan. How: Twice weekly monitoring over 16 weeks. Where: Sites above and below the CSO at Rattery.
Citizen Science Investigations
• Producing data to target work and identify degrading water • Spotting pollution events for quick remedial action • Involving volunteers to help protect our local environment Details: We are running Citizen Science Investigations for at least 1 year, working in collaboration with the Westcountry Rivers Trust. We have teams involving over 30 volunteers, doing regular basic water quality testing. This will produce useful data as well as enabling people to learn and engage people with the water environment. The BBP volunteers will join a network of catchment communities that are invested in their local environment. How: Monthly monitoring, for a minimum of July 2023-July 2024. Where: At various sampling sites along the Bidwell Brook. Our grateful thanks are due to Friends of the Dart and Westcountry Rivers Trust and everyone who has donated to enable/support these testing programmes.
The work done by our Citizen Scientists enabled the West Country Rivers Trust to publish a Scorecard for the Bidwell. This shows that the catchment is in relatively good ecological health.
Wildlife
The Brook (and its valley) supports a wide range of plants and animals, including otters, eels and brown trout. We are aiming to have a full ecological assessment undertaken of the Brook, so we can take appropriate actions to conserve, nurture and maybe enable the return of former inhabitants, such as salmon. We’ll be expanding this section as we develop, but in the meantime, here are a few recent sightings: nicola crockford (@numenini) tweeted at 10:20 pm on Wed, May 31, 2023: With thanks to @popmoc, so special to snorkel his delightful stretch of Bidwell Brook, a tributary of the Dart which my Grandmother used to fly fish, in Week. Thrilling to find abundant Brown Trout living there - mostly small & quite shy. #MySwim #Dartington #Totnes #Devon nicola crockford (@numenini) tweeted at 10:21 pm on Wed, May 31, 2023: Disappointingly low visibility in Bidwell Brook, but plenty of Gammarus pulex freshwater shrimps - good food for the Trout. Saw no other fish species in the 300m stretch we swam. Quite a few Caddisfly larvae. Sadly, the invasive alien Signal Crayfish is there. #riverflies