Our Mission:

A community group committed to returning the River Cale to a self-sustaining ecosystem that is rich in bio-diversity and to be enjoyed by all.

News

Emergency litter pick

One of the things we really rely upon from the community is for anyone seeing anything untoward in the river to report it to us by the various ways of contacting. On this occasion someone had clearly missed their dustbin and accidentally placed their rubbish into the river by ‘Batch Bridge’.

Janice from our Committee and other eagle-eyed people in the town spotted an accumulation of rubbish and CATCH decided to deal with it.… ...read the rest

Kick Sampling for all – 2nd sampling exercise of the year.

Second kick sample of the year carried out on Sunday and getting the next generation involved – Leaving a legacy!

This is such an important part of our river health monitoring. Anyone who is interested in getting involved, please contact us on email via: [email protected]

We sample at three locations in the town, with results reported to the EA (Environment Agency) for a national register.

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Hedgehog Highways!

A few conversations regarding hedgehogs recently. Don’t forget to set up the ‘hedgehog highways’ through your garden so that our friendly hogs can freely roam and feed….here’s one of ours……

Oh, and feel free to send us pictures of your set up and we will post on here!

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Pollarding the River Cale

We spent a Saturday morning having fun and doing some good for the River Cale by pollarding some Willow that had become unmanageable. This is to enhance the required 60/40 light/shade ratio for a healthy river. The willow had been left too long before dealing with it (about 10 years) so we are having to be brutal in order to bring it all back under control.

With a bit of work done, a breakfast roll and a coffee from the ‘Cale Cafe’ in the recreation ground the volunteers were firing on all cylinders, and what a great achievement for the … ...read the rest

Finally we are allowed back out…..

With hopefully the recent pandemic of Coronavirus steadily in decline (long may it last!), the CATCH crew (not all present in the attached photo) have returned to the river a few times to carry out some essential monitoring and tasks. The next few posts will hopefully bring you up to date with all news relating to our beautiful River Cale…… Glad to be back……

This website has received update on activities since April, so please be patient as you scroll as it’s been a while since we added anything.… ...read the rest

Otters on the Cale!

As with any river restoration project, as the pieces of nature’s puzzle fall into place, so does the food chain. CATCH are very proud of the river condition, and nature’s restoration. First we removed the rubbish, then we helped educate people. With the cleaner river came higher invertebrate numbers in the water, and we were able to return native species of fish to our town section after several pollution incidents. The town have allowed us to create habitat all along the town stretch of river, where we have now seen Dippers and Kingfishers returning.

To compliment the smaller creatures in … ...read the rest

Scything at the Wild Flower Meadow

Every August, the volunteers of CATCH attend to the duties of scything the Wild Flower Meadow at the Recreation Ground (next to the children’s park). The aim of scything is to clear this year’s growth, and allow seeds to drop from flowers grown this year and so to ensure the cycle for next year.

The hand scything exercise is great exercise, and the group get to use traditional methods to cut and clear the resulting hay materials.

We have posted a Facebook link to this post as the video filmed by our Chairman was too large a file to insert … ...read the rest

Balsam Bashing cont…….

Great progress this morning with Simon and Baz pulling Himalayan Balsam up to a point south of Charlton Musgrove church, although the river bed was found to have some unexpectedly deep holes. Note the essential Balsam Bashing equipment drying out after a dip!

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Beaver return for English rivers?

Interesting article and no doubt would create debate if in Wincanton…..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53658375

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New addition to the Recreation ground

A few photos from tonight’s information sign installation. The sign is at the entrance to the recreation ground and should provide some useful and interesting facts about our local river and environment surrounding it.

Also gave the chance to photograph the rock berm and planting which took place nearly three years ago, pretty amazing difference and complimented by the planting carried out on the border behind by Brue Valley Rotary Club. Then and now photos attached.

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