Mend the Gap

Mend the Gap

Riparian restoration on the Thames side

BBOWT is currently undertaking a two-year project, funded by Mend the Gap, focused along the Thames, south of Wallingford.

Mend the Gap is a project managed by the Chilterns and North Wessex Downs National Landscapes to deliver a number of activities to enhance land impacted negatively by the electrification of the Great Western Railway around the Goring Gap.

Supported by Mend the Gap, BBOWT will create habitat enhancements on our own land at Cholsey Marsh and in partnership with local landowners.

Wetland conservation

The Thames floodplain hosts important examples of fen, swamp and reedbed and includes Cholsey Marsh, a riverside haven of some 19 hectares nestled just east of Cholsey village. Home to important riverside marsh and managed by BBOWT, Cholsey Marsh is a sensitive site that is also enjoyed by humans - the Thames Path national trail passes through on its way from Wallingford to Goring, and a public slipway intersecting the reserve draws visitors in the summer.

A spotlight on snails

At Cholsey, we plan to provide habitat enhancements across the site including for a localised species, Desmoulin’s whorl snail, that favours sedges and rushes in wet places. The species stronghold in Britain is a band of land from Hampshire to Norfolk, with a few scattered populations elsewhere, making Cholsey a significant site for these minute molluscs. As such, we’ll be looking into willow removal to provide these animals with more habitat as well as planting and maintaining existing trees on the site to encourage more of a parkland feel.

Riverside wildlife

Rivers are important, providing us with the benefits of fresh water, drainage and places to visit for exercise and wellbeing. They are also important for wildlife, where those species that call the water home, or prey on those that do, can feed and hold territory away from many of the impacts of human presence. Click below to find out more about some of the species that will benefit from local habitat enhancements.

Contact us

Away from our own landholding we are keen to work with local landowners who wish to enhance their sites for wildlife and can offer advice, management plans and the potential to fund enhancement works where appropriate. If you’re keen to get involved and have land in the area which could provide wildlife benefits, please contact philipbruss@bbowt.org.uk. We’ll be very glad to hear from you.

Supported by

This project has been supported by the Mend the Gap programme. The vision of the Mend the Gap programme is that the outstanding national landscape that links the Chilterns and the North Wessex Downs will be enhanced and enriched for wildlife, residents, and visitors, helping to heal and soften the scars left by electrification of the Great Western main line.