River Blythe
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (WKWT)
The Site
The River Blythe originates to the south of Birmingham and flows in a north-easterly direction, eventually joining the River Tame at Blyth End, near Coleshill. As it meanders through the landscape, it passes through the Packington Estate, which is nestled between Birmingham and Coventry.
The site is located to the southeast of Hampton in Arden, here the Blythe is known for its natural structural features, including riffles, pools, and meanders, contributing to its designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and as such plays a crucial role in the local ecosystem, supporting diverse plant life.
The Wider Project (Blythe Alive Again)
Blythe Alive Again (BAA) is a wildlife-focused initiative dedicated to restoring and re-naturalising key sections of the River Blythe. Supported by funding from the Environment Agency and Severn Trent, and in collaboration with Natural England, this project has been underway since 2022, transforming over 140 hectares within the River Blythe to establish diverse and thriving habitats.
The Brief
Practicality Brown were tasked by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust to restore approximately 250m of old paleo-channel by excavating up to a metre in depth plus the infilling and regrading the river’s banks. In additon, we were also tasked with creating additional scrapes and swales along the route of the channel.
Practicality Brown Services
- Providing a design which fit the brief
- Completing desktop utilities searches
- Site Mobilisation and deliveries
- Onsite utilities survey and the issuing of a permit to dig
- Bank regrading and excavation of C.250m of Paleo channel
- Creation of additional swales and scrapes as directed by the Trust
- Placing and shaping of soils to create basking banks and additional habitat
- Regrading of exiting ruts and tidying up
- Additional berm backfilling outside of the original scope of work
- Collections and site demobilisation
Challenges
Practicality Brown were mobilised and onsite at short notice, as the client were keen to get the work undertaken as soon as possible.
The work had previously been started by the Trust in the preceding October but had to be postponed due to wet weather and extremely soft ground conditions, for this reason PB mobilised tracked machinery only to undertake the work.
The work location was relatively isolated, with access via a ford across the Blythe, we protected this feature by keeping our plant storage area close to the worksite and keeping machinery crossings via the ford to an absolute minimum.
The field with the paleo channel contained archeologically sensitive areas, mainly in the form of a Victorian Ice rink, these areas were avoided, with haul routes set out and strictly adhered to.
The previous work had left a series of deep ruts which would require regrading to repair and provide a suitably flat surface for our tracked dumper to operate.
The Outcome
The specified works within the original scope were completed ahead of schedule, the remaining time on site was utilised to complete and create a series of additional features and tasks, these included:
- Regrading of sections of the bank alongside five previously created timber berms on the River Blythe, topsoil was removed to the basking bank area and the remaining topsoil was used to backfill the berm structures, this provided a medium for the berms to be planted with native mixed marginal plants, which in time will form a root mass, tying the berms together whilst also providing essential edge habitat.
- The creation of an all-new pond, Approx 10m x 10m, with shallow sloping sides, scalloped edges, shelves for planting and a deep sump.
- Adding deeper sumps to the scrapes that had been created the previous year.
- Grading out and repairing of all ruts associated with our work as well as those created in the preceding October, including within the adjacent farmers field and around entrance ways.
Overall, the works completed by the Practicality Brown Habitats team will add valuable habitat to the area, including muddy margins for wading birds. The completed project also adds vital flood capacity to the floodplain, the client was very happy with the works completed. More information on the work and the wider project can be found here
See more case studies from the Practicality Brown Habitats Team.