April 2009:  Cease Fire on the Monnow Tributaries

1st April 2009 - After a 7 full months of coppicing of bank side trees and introducing coarse woody debris, by layering in of hazel on the Escley, Dulas and Honddu we had one great flourish on the last day of the coppicing season. The three Wye and Usk Foundation (WUF) habitat teams converged on the final 280 metres of the Honddu and, to the tune of 5 chainsaws and 10 men toiling, the river was joyfully transformed from heavily shaded rocky stream to well lit mountain river that is now a joy to behold.

 
On 1st September 2008 we set out to coppice 7000m on the Escley Brook and 2500m on the Honddu. In the end we managed to do 10,500m on the Escley, all of the Honddu and 1800m or so on the Dulas. We have the fencing to complete this Summer, which is vital but much less visually exciting.

 
For the progress so far: thanks must go firstly to the farmers and landowners who have been nothing but welcoming and helpful and then to the staff and habitat teams of WUF. George Woodward of the Environment Agency (EA) has been the mainstay of the projects, liaising with the landowners and smoothing waters before they even became choppy and rolling his sleeves up when required. Finally a big thank you to: National Grid for funding the Escley Project; to the EA for finding funds for the Dulas from the Water Frame Work Directive pot; Funding for the Honddu from the Brecon Beacons National Park and the EA Rod Licence Fee – yes the money you pay for your licence goes back into your rivers so don’t forget that the 1st April is Rod Licence renewal day.