River Lark Channel Restoration

The river Lark chalk stream is a unique and important habitat of which there are very few worldwide. Over time, the Lark has become degraded and altered for industrial use and cannot support the rich and varied wildlife it once did. The aim of this project was to galvanise community and volunteer participation to undertake significant river restoration.

Highlights from this project, led by the River Lark Catchment Partnership, include teams of volunteers building tree/brash ledges to restore the curves in an artificially straightened section of the river, and 290 metres of marginal and aquatic planting to restore and strengthen the river’s banks. This project also focused on training volunteers so these teams have even greater expertise. The most recent training was Mudspotting so volunteers can monitor water quality through sediment.

Sea to Chalk: Restoring Sea Trout and Eels

This project focused on two iconic Brecks rivers species, the wild brown trout and the European eel. As such, the work was split into two sections:

Working with Schools

The Norfolk Rivers Trust worked with local schools to introduce the native eel back to rivers in the Brecks. Children in various primary schools raised baby eels (elvers) in their classroom, then released them into the rivers. A full teaching pack was created which you can download: Teaching Packs and you can watch a film about this project: Eels in the Classroom

River Interventions

The Environment Agency removed in-river structures at the Turf Lock, Mildenhall and created a fish pass on the river Lark to enable the free flow of native wild brown trout and other river species. They held a River Lark Celebration in 2025 to give local people a tour of the works and discuss how it fits in for future plans for the river.

Little Ouse River Improvement

When navigation between Thetford and Brandon via the Little Ouse ceased, the remnants of the structures were left, impounding the river along all its reaches preventing connectivity. To allow passage between structures, they need removing or modifying.

This project, led by the Environment Agency, was to allow sea trout and course fish to pass through Brandon Staunch to access their natural breeding grounds upstream. This was achieved by installing a ‘Larinier’ style fish-ladder, which was uniquely modified to include a canoe pass to allow for recreational passage.

While some work is still needed to modify the boom preventing debris entering the staunch area, once completed, it will open the pass up for recreational passage as well as the fish.

See construction taking place here: April 2021 Update or watch the newly installed canoe pass being tested.

Barton Mills Sluice

Similar to the Little Ouse project above, old structures in the river Lark between Judes Ferry and Bury St Edmunds prevent the passage of sea trout to their natural breeding grounds. This Environment Agency project was to lower Barton Mills Sluice and carry out restoration and reconnection of the flood plain upstream.

Before this could take place, test lowerings had to be carried out and data collected to ensure the river level is not linked to the fen level. This is a gradual and complex process, highly sensitive to excessive rainfall or drought. As such, this project has faced many delays.

However, after groundwater reached a suitable level, a trial lowering took place in June 2024 and data can now be collected. This data will now be used in the River Lark Flagship project to contribute to the national Chalk Stream strategy.

Lost Ponds: Reinstating Ghost Pingos

Pingo ponds are rare features formed in the last ice age, recently classified as Priority Habitat by Natural England. With so many existing pingo ponds filled in or dried out by human or natural processes, the aim of this project was to restore this habitat, to see if the original plants and wildlife that lived there could return.

This project, led by Norfolk Wildlife Trust and supported by UCL and expert volunteers, has been an enormous success! The aim was to excavate 14 pingo ponds, and in all, 15 were excavated (the final excavation formed an instructional open day). So far, we have learned that, through careful management, long-dormant plants, persisting in the original silt, can grow and rare species can find a new home.

Of course, management and monitoring will go on long-term, but the final biodiversity reports, and a guide to pingo pond restoration, are being written and we will distribute them as soon as they are ready.

Watch a film about the project

Managing the Margins: Riparian Landowner Advice

The aim of this project was to create a joined-up approach, or hub, offering advice to anyone responsible for land in ‘riparian zones’ – these are the transitional areas between bodies of water and the land around them – so common in the Brecks. When healthy, they can provide a range of ecosystem services for people and wildlife, such as flood risk mitigation, carbon storage, water quality improvement and habitat enhancement.

This project involved a broad range of activities from 35 one-to-one farm visits, developing case studies for land managers, setting up a self-sustaining riparian land managers’ network to share best practice, and running a series of knowledge sharing workshops for managing and creating woodlands, waterways and grassland. The project also delivered a number of on-farm interventions to reduce run-off into the rivers with match funding from Coca-Cola, Tesco and others.

The team at Norfolk Rivers Trust behind this project have also created a series of guides (the third of which will be available soon!):
Gardening on the Riverside
Best Practice for River Users

Take a look at our other Programme Round-Ups below:

Programme 2: Under the Surface

Programme 3: Working Waters

Programme 4: Revealing the Rivers