To help control the water levels, and ensure the separation of fresh water from brackish water we have installed a dam at Cowpen Marsh. Originally, before the A178 was built and Seal Sands was drained, Saltholme's natural drainage was by Holme Fleet into Greatham Creek with an area of brackish water near the creek, but now we have to intervene to maintain a ballance and stop the fresh water washing out all the salt.
The earth bund has been badly eroded over the years and today we started work using piles made of recycled plastic which we hammered into the peaty soil quite close to the Cowpen Marsh car park. These should last 150 years!
Thanks to Brian for the photo of George, me, Dean and Josh putting in the second pile. The water in the foreground is fresh and the marsh behind brackish (salty), the road is behind the trees and the car park to the right.
The system is often used to restore peat bogs as in the Flow Country of Caithness - see Forsinard - where they slip easily into the peat drains, but our mixture of peat and clay is more of a challenge!
Peter