Monday 15th July
Report written by James Smith
3 intrepid explorers set off from The Showroom in search of fish passes in and on weirs along the course of the River Don in central Sheffield. These features in the river need to be inspected and evaluated every so often to make sure they are serving the purpose for which they were installed, flagging up any issues to be fixed. There is a form with set criteria on to be evaluated at each site. As we were a small group tonight we elected to stay together to do the inspections, rather then split up and cover a greater number. We still managed to inspect 4 sites and cover 6km in our alloted time. Great job team GG!
After inspecting as many passes as we could, including Sanderson's Weir, Burton Weir, Walk Mill and Lady's Bridge, we headed back to The Showroom to stretch off before bidding each other adieu.
Sheffield's industrial past saw the implementation of weirs on the River Don to power the factories. These flow control devices inhibit natural migratory paths for fish. To combat this, fish passes have been installed at the weirs throughout Sheffield. These are important for the movement of fish (particularly salmon) between habitats and breeding grounds. The Don Catchment Rivers Trust have been working on the River Don to bring back the salmon population to the area and now efforts are needed to maintain this. GoodGymers will be part of long term surveying and monitoring of the fish passes to ensure they have not been blocked and remain fully functional.
See moreTue 16th Jul at 11:59am
thank you James / fellow fishy intrepid explorer!
Sheffield
Keeping the local area spic and span and enjoying a posh coffee after