Tuesday 26 October 2010

Coming up to the spawning season

Tues 26th Oct. 2010
                There could be some good news in the very near future for amateur naturalists like myself. During the past few weeks the final piece of the jigsaw is being completed on Pendle Water in Barrowford, the fish pass will bypass the waterfall weir by the side of the Heritage Centre and allow Salmon and Sea Trout to spawn in the river as far up as Roughlee waterfall.The river system down the Calder valley which includes Pendle Water is cleaner now than it has been for the last 150 years and fish have returned to the river, with the removal of the weir at the site of the old Padiham Power Station and the weir at Quaker Bridge in Brierfield the fish have easy access to most of the river system. With the Salmon spawning season in mind our small hiking party set off on a cold frosty morning last Sunday to explore some of the tributaries of the River Ribble just over the hill in the Ribble Valley to see if there were any Salmon in the streams waiting to spawn. We didn't see any because the water was too low to allow them ascend these small streams but in spite of this we all enjoyed the walk in the crisp autumn sunshine.

                                     Pendle Water in Barrowford

                                      The new fish pass


           Sunday morning ....my garden pond with a thin covering of ice


                        The fish pass on Swan Side Beck






                                              Lunch stop

                              Down Side Lane to Twiston Beck

                    Pendle Hill always dominating the scenery

                                 Fish passes on Twiston Beck




  Back over the hill from Twiston Beck and back to the village of Rimington












                          

3 comments:

  1. Sounds great, it would be good to try and photograph the salmon jumping up the fish ladder! I saw a pic of Barbel leaping up falls in the Pyrenees once, it was a great shot.

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  2. I loved the picture of the cows watching as you ate your lunch. They are such curious animals. I expect they were hoping for a few luchtime treats themselves:)

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  3. Goodness! What color full post it is. Every one of the hues are connected with pond and pond all upkeep is great through Pond Liner Repair

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