The river Nene goes through a transformation as it flows from the English Midlands to the East ... refer to the ‘Neen’ in Northamptonshire and you will raise eyebrows – you are in river ‘Nen’ territory!
The water carried from the heart of England towards the sea used to feed the Fens – once England’s Everglades. Now only carefully managed fragments remain, the RSPB’s Nene (that’s Neen) Washes in Cambridgeshire are an example.
But up river another wetland has slowly formed as gravel extraction has shaped the land, and nature has filled the space. For 50 years the quarrying of sand and gravel has been a feature of the valley and the resulting landscape has become immensely popular not just with wildlife but also us – nearly 100,000 people visit Stanwick Lakes each year (including, recently, my family).
Scaling the heights - family fun is definately part of a day out in the Upper Nene Valley - (photo Andre Farrar).
The mix of great activities and nature is a real winner – and with care, lots of people and lots of nature can make the most of this enticing landscape.
And there’s no doubt that this is a special place for nature – its status as a Special Protection Area (SPA) has recently been confirmed – putting the Upper Nene Valley in the top draw of European nature (the area became a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 2006). This new SPA is slap bang in the middle of England’s second most active growth area with 64,000 new homes and 80,000 new jobs planned by 2026, top class environments and high ambitions for our communities should surely go together, shouldn’t they? You can read the details here.
The landscape of the Upper Nene valley, here at Stanwcik Lakes - photo Andre Farrar
Our natural environment has been mistakenly held up as a block on our human endeavours, most recently and most notably by the Chancellor of the Exchequer – this blog regularly highlights the risks of this myopic view – protecting the best of our natural environment isn’t anti-development unless that development is poor, unnecessary or the wrong option.
A case in point in the Upper Nene valley involves Hanson plc who have recently received planning permission for a new sand and gravel quarry. To enable this to happen, silt needs to disposed off and a creative solution has been found which involves using the silt to manage lakes within the SPA creating ideal conditions for wildfowl.
For the statistically minded, this is the largest SSSI in Northamptonshire (at 1400ha doubling the proportion of the county covered by designations) and is only the fifth SPA in the East Midlands.
There’s a huge debt of gratitude too, to the volunteers (over 30 of them) who helped build the case for designation by helping to gather crucial information not only on wintering and breeding birds but also dragonflies, aquatic invertebrates and plants. By stepping up for their local wildlife they have helped to put the Upper Nene into the top flight of nature sites, playing a key role in our fourteen year campaign to secure this vital recognition and protection.
Among the wildlife highlights discovered during survey work was the first record of hairy dragonflies breeding in Northamptonshire and the first record of spined loach (a European protected fish) in a gravel pit rather than in a river.
Golden plovers in flight - photo Chris Gomersall RSPBImages
The SPA designation reflects the area’s importance for birds – and they are there in some numbers! The wetlands are home to over 20,000 water birds each winter including lapwing, wigeon, shoveler, teal, goldeneye, mallard, coot, cormorant, pochard and tufted duck. The site is particularly important for it’s wintering golden plover, bittern and gadwall.
So, tempted to visit?
I can certainly recommend it as a great place to enjoy nature – to mark this important event in the history of nature conservation in Northamptonshire a programme of free family events and guided walks around the Nene (definitely ‘Nen’) valley to see the wildlife in its newly protected habitat.
Natural England, the RSPB (that’s us), the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, the Rockingham Forest Trust and River Nene Regional Park have arranged family wildlife watching activities over the weekend of 14 – 15 January, and you can find all the details here.
Follow me on twitter.