A wonderful book for anyone who loves rivers, wildlife and fish

This book was a delight to read and a lesson in the character and intelligence of the homely Brown Trout compared to its far distance travelling companion - and champion of the ocean and freshwater streams - the stalwart Salmon. I was fascinated by the way Simon approached the renovation of an abandoned stretch of an original chalkstream and how it was transformed into a permanent spawning ground for fish and an abundant ecosystem of wildlife.

Life of a Chalkstream was written by Simon Cooper who is recognised as one of the most knowledgeable and experienced chalkstream conservationists in the British Isles. He runs a company called Fishing Breaks, hosting fishing courses and tours from April to October at Nether Wallop Mill in the heart of Hampshire. This is home to a thatched cabin overlooking a clear Trout Lake making it the perfect setting for fly fishermen and Nature enthusiasts.

Simon's book is a testament to what can be done to restore and rejuvinate untamed wild places, and create the perfect conditions for an abundance of wildlife, birds, marine animals, fish, wildflowers, trees and vegetation that thrives alongside grazing farm animals in their natural environment. Most interestingly, Life of a Chalkstream provides a lens into the life of a Brown Trout which I found endearing, and the life of a Salmon, which I found breathtaking.

Lay of the land

Life of a Chalkstream tells the story of a neglected English chalkstream and carrier stream of the RIver Evitt that had long stood dry. It was part of an abandoned area called Gravelwood, encompassing the land, the river, side streams brook and water meadows, taking its name from a wood that makes up part of this tiny, forgotten part of England.

On acquiring the land, Simon set out to mark the territory and assess the conditions. He followed paths made by grazing animals, knowing they would avoid the boggy and marshy areas. He waded up the river until the geography of the river and the meadows was starting to make some sense. It was a joy to do this in the presence of Kingfishers, Water Voles and other such birds and creatures enjoying the freedom and the abundant wild landscape they occupied.

A mighty challenge

Simon took on the mighty challenge of bringing the river, side streams, water meadows and wooded land back to life. It took a lot of skillful planning and often back-breaking work to clear the river and bring back the crystal clear, oxygenated, free-flowing waters running over gently undulating gravel beds. Mountains of weeds, overgrown bushes and Nettles were trimmed and left to feed Nitrogen back into the soil.

The river bank was carefully repaired so that it could be left to recover after being trampled by the hooves of heavy cattle left to wander up to the water's edge over long periods of time, causing problems for the Water Voles who live there. Diggers were used to clear the reeds at the end of (and during) the Summer season to make sure the fish had room to swim close to the banks in hiding and the river could continue to run clean.

It is a story of sheer determination and month's of hard work for Simon and those he engaged to help him with the project. I can hardly imagine the feeling of seeing everything come to fruition, including the return of the fishermen and their messages of delight when they spot their first fish of the season. The essential thing is that these good people brought back balance and harmony to a beautiful landscape and life-force to a river.

Decline and restoration

The second chapter uncovers the history of the River Evitt which flowed through Gravelwood in Sevenoaks, Middle Mill in Surrey and Cams Point in Cambridge into the English Channel. This includes a side stream (or bourne) that flows away from the river along Gravel Wood before joining it again further down, creating a reed bed between the meadow drains and the river with surrounding meadows.

Where the bourne begins at Portland Watchers, there is an old Drowners Hut which was a form of shelter used by drowners employed by farmers as early as the 1700s. These were skilled and professional men with the responsibility for drowning the water meadows for set periods of time and during certain seasons of the year. This ensured that the water meadows provided a rich source of grassland along a river that was irrigated to produce a rich hay crop and lush grazing early in the year for cattle.

Fishing was very popular in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, especially at the time when Queen Victoria took the throne in 1837 and the wet fly was introduced. This was a new technology that brought innovtions to the fishing community. The rivers were well maintained during this period when the fishing craze caught on amonst the landed gentry, and the rivers became much more than farmland irrigators and power sources for mills.

Today, many of our rivers suffer from the constant threat of being poisoned by the run-off of chemicals used for mono-crop agriculture so it is particularly heartening to see how a beautiful stretch of natural chalkstream has been restored to perfection in such a short space of time. This followed the gradual decline of the watermeadows, watermills and fly-fishing enjoyed by so many in the past when no longer were the myriad carriers and streams of any use, so they were left to atrophy.

The traveller and the trout

The most delightful part of Life of a Chalkstream is the way SImon describes the details and antics of the wildlife he finds himself surrounded by on a day to day basis. As a highly knowledgeable naturalist (who has created a detailed index that any author would be proud of), Simon brings to life the scientific facts as well as the personalities of his subjects, in particular, two very similar fish with very different lives (and lifestyles).

The Brown Trout, I found to be rather clever and endearing, the Salmon, quite breathtaking in its ability to travel thousands of miles by sea, then hundreds of miles by fresh water and (upstream) to return to its original spawning ground.

By comparison, in lives that will span five to seven years some Brown Trout will travel no more than a few hundred yards from their birthplace, whereas the Salmon has a round trip of some 4,000 miles to complete its life cycle.

A treasure trove

Life of a Chalkstream provides a rich tapestry of information that encompasses history, geology, potamology (the study of rivers), botany and the wonders of the natural world.

You will learn about the Mayfly’s precise lifecycle and how a Pike operates; the phases of the spawning process and the art of spotting Redds from the riverbank; the philosophy of the Brown Trout to achieve the most reward (passing food) by utilising the least effort (lurking in gravel pits); the needs of cattle and how to manage them in a way that helps to regenerate the soil, the river and the land; the day-to-day activities of Kingfishers, Water Voles, Eels, Geece, Bats and a host of other creatures, wild animals and birds - all of which occupy this diverse range of habitat along the river and beyond.

It is the perfect time of year to draw the curtains and settle down with a hot cup of tea to enjoy a book that will take you on an exciting journey, inform you of lots of interesting things and bring you closer to the natural world you love.

Thank you for reading and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Sue Cartwright

Spiral Leaf

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Life of a Chalkstream by Simon Cooper

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