A couple of weeks ago we were sent a charming video of a dipper feeding a fledgling on the River Worth in Keighley. We were so impressed we asked the sender if he would like to write a blog about it for us and here it is. We hope that it will inspire people to get out along the river like Liam and really see the beauty in small things.....
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You’re probably wondering who I am, so let’s start there.

My name’s Liam. I’m 35, a dad, born and bred in Keighley, and—somewhat unexpectedly—I’m completely obsessed with birds.

That obsession didn’t come from a childhood packed with countryside walks or a lifelong love of wildlife. In fact, if you’d asked me a few years ago about birding, I’d have probably shrugged and changed the subject.
Everything changed in late 2021 when I moved into a new home beside the River Worth.

For someone who now spends every spare moment outdoors, I’m almost embarrassed to admit that at first, I barely noticed it. The river was just… there. Background scenery. Something you glance at through a window and forget about entirely.
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Then one day in early 2023, during yet another afternoon working at my desk, something caught my eye.
Perched proudly on my garden wall was a bird I’d never really looked at before—plump, confident, with a soft peach-coloured chest and a chunky beak that looked like it meant business. I’d later learn its name: Bullfinch.
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That moment was the spark. I’d always known there was a trail behind my house—one of those places you mentally file away but never actually visit. For reasons I still can’t explain, I decided that day to step outside and follow it. No expectations. No grand plan. Just curiosity.

Within five minutes, I saw them again. Not just one Bullfinch this time, but several—chirping away, flickering through the branches, their colours bursting against the lush green of the woodland. I stopped in my tracks. I’d lived here all this time and had never noticed them. Never noticed any of this.
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That small stretch of woodland and that quiet, unassuming river cracked something open inside me. This was the moment I truly fell down the rabbit hole.
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The binoculars came next. Then—inevitably—an admittedly obnoxiously large camera lens. And just like that, my daily routine changed forever.

Since then, I’ve been out almost every day. Before work. After work. Rain or shine. Always asking the same question: what might I see today? The answer is never boring.

The biodiversity right outside my back door continues to amaze me. The seasons roll through—each one bringing new species, behaviours, colours, and moments that feel like they’re happening just for you, if you’re lucky enough to notice.
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So far, I’ve recorded well over 50 different bird species. My favourite? The Kingfisher—an electric flash of blue that rockets up and down the river like it owns the place.
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But this year, something happened that pushed this passion even deeper.

I was doing my usual after-work walk—the kind I’ve done a thousand times without thinking twice. I heard it before I saw anything: the unmistakable, cheerful cheep of a Dipper. A sound that always makes me smile.
As the call grew louder, the bird flew upstream and landed. Then I heard something different—a frantic, high-pitched commotion. I stopped. Sat down. Kept my distance.

And then it appeared.

A tiny Dipper chick emerged from beneath an overhanging tree, wobbling with determination, drawn out by the promise of food from its parent. Brave. Vulnerable. Perfect. I watched in complete silence as the exchange played out. No rushing. Just me and a moment that felt like a privilege rather than an accident.

I stayed until the light faded, then quietly left them in peace. Moments like that make you realise how much we miss.

​People look at places like Keighley and see old mills and tired shop fronts. But if you take that first step outside—really take it—you’ll find wild, breathing, thriving worlds tucked into the cracks. Hidden in plain sight.

That little Bullfinch opened a door I didn’t even know existed. Now it’s an obsession I share with my nine-year-old son and my girlfriend. The River Worth has become our home away from home.

Huge thanks to River Worth Friends and the volunteers whose tireless work keeps this place alive—you’re genuinely incredible.

So that’s me. A once-oblivious thirty-something, now a camera-wielding, bird-obsessed nerd—and honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing.

And the best part? I feel like this journey is only just beginning.

Thank you for reading, maybe we’ll bump into each other on the trail some time.
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All the pictures and video were shot by Liam on the Worth. To see more visit his excellent Instagram page - The Amateur Lensman

​Earlier this month when we were out litter picking and clearing other rubbish, we collected a grand total of 82 bags of litter plus many other items. This is now our new personal best.
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​We started in the morning at Postman’s Walk, always a top spot for litter. The path from the sorting office up to Mohair St was particularly littered. We were especially dismayed by the amount of fly tipping from the properties above the banking adjacent to the path. All in all we collected 20 bags plus various junk.

In the afternoon a group of stalwarts decided to tackle some particularly annoying fly tipping at a different location that we have had our eye on for a few weeks. Someone had thrown a loads of black bags of rubbish from a bridge into the river channel. On investigation it appeared that many of the bags contained cannabis farm paraphernalia.  A group in waders worked below whilst Barry and Christine hauled the bags up with a grappling hook, hard work for Barry who was starting to flag when a kind passer by lent a hand until the last bag was hauled up. Hats off to our anonymous helper!
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The total number of bags at this location was 62. So all in all we removed 82 bags and loads of other crap in about four hours, not bad and well done to all involved.

A theme of the day was fly tipping, which seems to be becoming a major blight on the local environment. One thing that we don’t understand about fly tippers is why they have to tip into inaccessible areas. Take the bridge tipping for example, surely it would be easier for them to just dump by the side of the road instead of having to throw it over quite high railings, it would certainly be easier for us to clear if they did so. We wonder if it’s partly trying to hide their guilty secret. Perhaps any fly tippers reading this, which I doubt there are, could enlighten us.

Completely unrelated! We also spotted signs of otter under the bridge, an otter spraint and prints. So despite man's messing with the environment nature is still hanging in there!

We have known for some time that otter frequent the Worth, see previous blog on this, but do not know the extent of their presence on the whole catchment. So starting this spring we are conducting surveys along the river to spot evidence of otters, if we were lucky this could be actually spotting an otter but more likely it would be finding spraints (otter droppings) or tracks in bankside sand or mud.

We are kicking of the project with two survey walks on 28th March and 6th April. Here are the details for both walks. You are welcome to join us.

River Worth Friends Otter Survey – Lumbfoot to Haworth – Saturday 28th March
 
We’ll be searching for traces of otters along the River Worth, helping to build a better picture of otter activity on this stretch of river. The most obvious sign is spraints, so we’ll be walking along the river keeping an eye out for them and checking underneath bridges, which are often hotspots. This event is open to everyone and no prior experience is needed. If you'd like to join us, please let me know so that we have an idea of numbers. As the route is linear, it will be easier if participants use buses where possible. Please note that we will negotiating stiles and similar obstructions during the walk so may not be suitable for those with mobility issues.
 
Linear route: just short of 2.3 miles
https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3245597?units=km
 
Estimated time: Not a clue!
 
Meeting time: 9:50am


Meeting point: Junction of Sun Lane & Lumbfoot Road, Stanbury
https://w3w.co/tailwind.directly.applause
 
End point: Junction of Ebor Lane & Lees Lane, Haworth
https://w3w.co/stem.ditching.tornado
 
Bus information:
Join us on the B1 bus to Stanbury leaving Keighley Bus Station at 9:25am (Stand K) and arriving at the meeting point at 9:50am.
At the end point, B1, B2 or B3 buses towards Keighley run approximately every 20 minutes.
 
Parking options:
Note that there isn’t space to park at the start point.

• Pay car park behind Mill Hey Fisheries: https://w3w.co/tailing.repaying.audio
• Alternatively, find nearby street parking and take the bus to the start point.
• The nearest place to park to the start point is Cemetery Road (below Penistone Hill):
  https://w3w.co/linen.reverted.applauded

Please note this is about a 13-minute walk to the start point and about a mile from the end point.
 
What to bring:
Binoculars and wellies (plus a walking pole) for anyone willing to get into the river to search for spraints.
 
This walk has been risk assessed, but all participants are responsible for their own safety. Children are welcome if accompanied by a parent or responsible adult. Well-behaved dogs on leads are also welcome.
 
 
 
 
River Worth Friends Otter Survey – Oxenhope to Haworth - Bank Holiday Monday 6th April
 
We’ll be searching for traces of otters along Bridgehouse Beck, helping to build a better picture of otter activity on this stretch of river. The most obvious sign is spraints, so we’ll be walking along the river keeping an eye out for them and checking underneath bridges, which are often hotspots. This event is open to everyone and no prior experience is needed. If you'd like to join us, please let us know so that we have an idea of numbers. As the route is linear, it will be easier if participants use buses where possible. Please note that we will negotiating stiles and similar obstructions during the walk so may not be suitable for those with mobility issues.
 
Linear route: just short of 2.3 miles
https://www.plotaroute.com/route/3245628?units=km
 
Estimated time: Not a clue!
 
Meeting time: 10:31am


Meeting point: Junction of Lowertown & Station Road, Oxenhope
https://w3w.co/instilled.wicked.palaces
 
End point: Bridgehouse Lane, Haworth
https://w3w.co/foggy.preoccupied.shopper
 
Bus information:
Join us on the B3 bus to Hebden Bridge leaving Keighley Bus Station at 10:05am (Stand K) and arriving at the meeting point at 10:31am.
At the end point, B1, B2 or B3 buses towards Keighley run approximately every 20 minutes.
 
What to bring:
Binoculars and wellies (plus a walking pole) for anyone willing to get into the river to search for spraints.
 
This walk has been risk assessed, but all participants are responsible for their own safety. Children are welcome if accompanied by a parent or responsible adult. Well-behaved dogs on leads are also welcome.
 

​River Worth Friends and the Aire Rivers Trust have been monitoring the ecological status of the Worth for a number of years. We have used two methods for this; electrofishing to count the actual number and species of fish and riverfly monitoring to count the number of invertebrates (bugs) living in the river, on which the fish feed. As we have been doing this for about five years we can start to detect trends in the numbers. In this blog we will look at how we electrofish and then analyse the results.
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​Electrofishing involves passing an electric current through the water to momentarily stun or disorientate the fish, making them easier to catch, we then take a count and measure the length of some species. You may have seen us demonstrating this at the Trout in the Town Conclave we hosted earlier this year. Fishing usually involves a team of 4 to 6 people, headed by Prof. Jon Grey of the Wild Trout Trust who wields the electric probe, there are two catchers with nets who scoop up the fish when they appear and pass them to the fourth person who keeps them in a bucket of water for later counting and measuring by one or two people on the bank. I said that the stunning makes the fish easier to catch but the job of the catcher is quite tricky as the fish are only briefly immobilised so you have to be quite quick witted and sure footed.

​Once counted and measured the fish will be fully recovered and are released back into the river.
Five approximately 50 metre stretches are fished each spring. The lowest is by Kinara Close whilst the most upstream is at Damems.

​We asked Prof. Grey to explain some of the trends showing from the data over the past five years:

• We have sampled the five sites consistently between years to standardise as much as possible so any differences are down to environmental elements, not the surveying approach per se. 
• We would expect inter-annual fluctuation in numbers to some extent to do with differing conditions throughout the intervening year affecting various different life-stages
• I've drawn up a bar chart denoting fish species number at the different sites over time. We would expect that there should be greater fish species diversity at the furthest downstream site and that generally holds but is clearest in 2025. There are a greater number of fish species in the mainstem Aire which 'should' be able to access the lowest reaches of the Worth. Over the five years of the survey, we have caught 8 different species: brown trout, grayling, bullhead, gudgeon, stone loach, minnow, 3-spined stickleback, brook lamprey. But interestingly the bar chart shows that the maximum we have caught at one time point at one location is 6.

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• At Damems, representing an upper section, we would naturally expect fewer fish species because of the gradient of the river and the suitability of the habitat whittling out those species that aren't able to cope. Of course, the Worth is challenged by weirs which further constrain that scenario. Damems has only ever had bullhead and brown trout in surveys and that is maybe a natural community for the river up there, although one might argue brook lamprey and eel should be able to get there if there were no weirs.
• Complicating the picture of fish distribution further is the fact that bullhead and trout have sustainable populations above all the weirs and most of the pollution sources so can repopulate from upstream. Almost everything else has to repopulate from downstream. 
• I say almost above. There seems to be a pocket of stickleback and brook lamprey clinging on above the goit and weir at Marriners walk which boost the species number occasionally
• Still on species: gudgeon only appeared in surveys in 2025, and grayling appeared in 2024 with slightly more in 2025, demonstrating slow return of species to the river from the mainstem Aire but being limited by weirs. Indicative of this, minnow can be quite numerous in some years but only 1 minnow has been recorded in our surveys above the weir above the A629 at Aireworth Grove (we call it Malcolm’s weir).

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• The trout data can be explored even further, so in the last figure I have totalled the trout caught but split the numbers into parr (juveniles >1 year) and older fish, and the young of year component (fry <1 year). If we just look at the parr & older component of the population firstly, then the trend is much flatter than the previous figure; indeed, there is little change between 2021-24 and it is only in 2025 that the number jumps up a bit. Such a pattern might imply that the ‘carrying capacity’, the available habitat or food resource for older trout in the Worth, may be limiting. Interestingly, it is the fry component that has really changed over the 5 years of survey and caused the more marked upward trend in total trout number. Being the most delicate life-stage, fry numbers are extremely ‘noisy’, affected by a greater range of parameters and are thus more difficult to interpret. We only recorded one fry in each of 2021 and 2022. I know from surveying many becks across the region that 2021 & 2024 were relatively ‘good’ years ie lots of becks had higher numbers of fry but 2022 & 2025 were generally poor for various reasons. The Worth data do not seem to conform and may simply be reflecting the overall recovery of a river more able to support the earliest life-stages….watch this space!  

Our thanks to Prof. Grey for that interesting analysis. That last graph is particularly enigmatic, will the 2026 results show a continuing upward trend of older fish due to the recruitment from the previous young of year? We will let you know.

People walking by the river at Damems recently may have noticed some riverside trees have been felled and left in the river. What’s that all about!? It’s part of the River Worth Improvement Project (RWIP) and is intended to improve the in-river ecology. Here Sam Riley-Gunn of the Aire Rivers Trust and project leader for the RWIP explains what it’s all about. Read on….

From the start of the industrial revolution, we have changed the shape of the River Worth from its natural irregular path to a high sided, straight, fast flowing channel. This has had an impact on the ecology of the river, making it less attractive to wildlife. One of the aims of the RWIP was to enhance the river environment for wildlife.

​At the Damems Nature Reserves, Aire Rivers Trust and the Wild Trout Trust have been introducing tree kickers to the River Worth. These are trees that have been felled into the river channel and securely anchored to the riverbank with steel cables. The aim is to mimic the natural presence of large woody matter that historically would have naturally fallen into the river. Though simple in design, these structures bring profound benefits to the river, its wildlife, and the surrounding community. They will restore natural river processes by breaking up the monotony of the artificial fast, straight, flows. 

As water moves around and through the submerged branches, it slows in some areas and accelerates in others, creating pools, riffles, and eddies that reshape the riverbed. Sediment begins to settle in calmer zones, while gravel is scoured clean in faster currents. This is important on the Worth as its fast straightened flow limits the build-up of clean gravel beds that are vital spawning grounds for fish such at brown trout.
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nature-based solution is invaluable. It works with the river’s own processes rather than against them, offering resilience without the need for expensive concrete engineering.

The benefits extend to people as well as wildlife. Damems Nature Reserve is already a cherished green space, and the revitalised river enhances its appeal. Visitors can witness the transformation firsthand, spotting darting fish, flourishing plants, and the possible electric blue and orange flash of a kingfisher along the water’s edge.
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The project also strengthens the River Worth Friends and Aire Rivers Trust’s wider mission to restore the Aire and Worth catchments. With the tree kickers marking the completion of the first phase of work to restore the Damems Nature Reserves. Future works are planned with Bradford and Keighley Town Council to introduce wildflower meadows, create fruit and flower rich riverside woodlands alongside an ambition to restore a large wetland on the Bradford Council owned section of the site. ​

A big thanks to Lucy Johnson for this lovely blog about the Muppet Memorial Walk organised by RWF for the Keighley Walking Festival. If you would like to write a blog on a River Worth matter please contact us.
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​What better memorial to a much loved person than leading a favourite walk in their memory? As part of Keighley Walking Festival the River Worth Friends organised a walk from Stanbury to Keighley on Saturday 27th of September. This walk was advertised as “Muppett’s Walk.” At several points during the hike walk leader Sue Patchett shared memories of Michael Pascal, who preferred to be known as Muppett.
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Muppett was passionate about broadening access to the countryside. He campaigned for many years to ensure access to the Dales bus service that runs from Keighley. He was good-humoured, invariably clad in Crocs, and passed away very suddenly last year.

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​The Stanbury walk followed a route devised by Muppett. It was attended by 14 intrepid walkers, and led by Sue  supported by Malcolm Eldon, on a bright autumn day. Most participants met at Keighley bus station, where Sue was proudly sporting an eye-wateringly bright Walking Festival hat, the familiar River Worth Friends high-vis and jazzy trousers.
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The bus route up the valley was scenic and calm, through a landscape studded with scenic villages, known for the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway and its role in the 1970 version of The Railway Children. We arrived as scheduled at the meeting point and acquired a few more participants, with only Malcolm and Rita sporting bare knees in the late September sunshine. 

​commented, “I’ve got lots of faults, but organisation isn’t one of them.” She also said that she can easily spend four hours at a time on her computer emailing local councillors or uploading and updating photos. She commented on her abrasive, effective campaigning style: “You’ve either got it or you aint!”

​We continued over the gentle hills, mostly through green fields, with the occasional tweak here and there to add a bit of woodland or avoid a road. As we neared Keighley, we were treated to the deisel train passing at Damem’s station, holding us up at the barrier as Malcolm snapped a few more shots.

The planned lunch spot was postponed due to winds, so instead we settled down close to the campfire spot at Damem’s Nature Reserve. Unfortunately, it seems that the spot is beloved by local dogs, who had chosen well-targeted spots to leave evidence of their walks, reducing the number of available perches. Sue regaled me with the escapade of Malcom’s Weir over lunch. It was detailed and dramatic enough to merit its own blog at some point, although Malcolm claims that the majority of Keighley is already familiar with the tale. 

​​Lunch completed, we continued back to Keighley, spotting ink caps on the way, and arriving back close to the train station to finish the day. Several walkers peeled off as we returned to the town, leaving a small group to bid farewell to near the train station. We were fortunate with the weather and the route was excellent. Sue proved herself to be a patient leader, even with Malcolm’s occasionally loose interpretation of back-marking. I highly recommend checking out more of the programme next year. 

Everybody loves otters, except perhaps for anglers and pond owners! We have otters visiting the River Worth, here's a little information about otters in general and in more specifically about their life on the Worth.
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​In the 1970’s the otter was close to extinction in England, only being found on 6% of surveyed sites. The steady decline earlier in the 20th century was largely due to water pollution with agricultural pesticides, other factors were illegal hunting and habitat loss.
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Following new regulations to control damaging pesticides, such as dieldrin and aldrin, instituted in the late 1970s, and the passing of the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 which lead to habitat restoration, otter numbers have steady increased. This has been partly by natural territory spread but also due to managed re-introduction in areas such as east Anglia where they were previously completely absent. The increase has been remarkable, in 2018 otters were found at 96% of surveyed sites in England.
 

​River Worth Friends are pleased to say that the Worth is no exception, otters or signs of their presence have been seen at a number of locations on the river.
Otter range over a wide territory, a female may cover 20-30 km or river, a male territory may include a number of female territories. So we suspect that the otters on the Worth are not actually resident but visitors from the Aire, we are hoping that an upcoming survey will be able to get more detail on this.
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Is it an otter or a mink?

It is easy to mistake a mink for an otter and vice verse. Here are a few features to distinguish them:

• ​Size. Otter are much bigger than mink, an adult otters body is about 95cm plus a tail of about 40cm, females are shorter. They weight between 7 to 17kg (15 to 37 lb), about the size of a medium sized terrier. While an adult mink is about 30-50 cm body length plus a tail about 20cm and weighs around 0.7-1.6 kg (1.5-3.5lb), about the size of a ferret, to which they are closely related. Otters have a much stouter tail which they use for swimming whilst mink tails are much thinner and less muscular.
• Colour. Mink are much darker, almost black, otters are a grey/brown colour.
• Swimming style. They have different swimming styles. Otters swim in a more submerged position with only their head and tail showing while the mink will have it's back showing. Also the heads are quite different, the otters being quite broad with a rounded face while the mink is weasel faced, narrow and pointed. Mink tend to be more terrestial than otters. The otter is more at home in the water than mink, it's body shape and webbed feet mean it's a more aquatic animal than the mink which is more often seen on the bank than in the water.​

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There are brief videos of a an otter and a mink on the Worth later in the blog. They show the different confirmation of the mink to the otter.
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​English otters are elusive creatures! They are mainly crepuscular, emerging at dawn and dusk, so they are usually out in the dark. The best way to find out if otters are present is to look for their spraints, posh name for droppings, or for their prints. You could also try filming with a trail camera.
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​Otter spraint usually has a sweet, fishy, some even say jasmine tea-like scent, while mink scats smell like shit, or some say burnt rubber .

​RWF members have spotted otter spraints by the river at Pitt St. and under the bridge at Dalton Lane, both close to the centre of Keighley, we didn’t need to sniff them.
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Trail camera.

If you really want to get into otter spotting you could set up a trail camera along the riverside. You obviously need to find a secluded location and camouflage the camera well, we understand there might be some dishonest people in Keighley who may steal it. Try to find somewhere with a gentle sloping bank, possibly under a bridge. We have filmed an otter in the river near Pitt Street.

​Clearly Pitt Street is a favourite otter hangout.

Brief shot of otter filmed on trail camera at Pitt Street.

Brief video of mink filmed on the same day and location as the otter

​The otter family:       Otters are part of the mustelid family, so related to weasels, stoats, mink and badgers

 Size:                           A full grown male otter can be up to 95cm plus a tail of about 40cm females are                                                     shorter.  They weight between 7 to 17kg (15 to 37 lb).

Lifespan:                      ​Up to ten years though many die well before that. Nowadays the main cause of death                                           is road accidents.

Diet:                              ​Mainly fish such as trout, grayling, eels and carp (on the Worth it would be trout and                                            grayling) but also amphibians, crustaceans (lots of crayfish on the Worth), and                                                       waterbirds like moorhens and ducks. They also hunt on land, occasionally consuming                                          small mammals, birds, and insects. 

       
Offspring:                    Young otters, known as pups or cubs, are born from May to August, they are blind,                                               weighing about 100g (3.5oz). Female otters can delay implant of the embryo meaning                                          they can mate at any time but delay implantation to give birth when conditions are                                               right.

One of River Worth Friends main activities is picking up plastic bottles and cans from in and along the river, over half of the rubbish we pick up is drinks containers. We don’t do this because we are obsessed with tidiness! Plastic is a scourge in our environment remaining for hundreds of years, plastic in our rivers will be distributed along the banks and eventually out to sea, having a lasting effect on marine life. The plastic bottle dropped in Keighley could end up in the stomach of a dolphin in the North Sea.
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​So it was with a mixture of pleasure and disappointment that we heard the governments recent announcement about the proposed deposit return scheme (DRS) for plastic bottles and cans. We’re pleased to hear that it will be up and running in October 2027 but disappointed that it has taken so long for Britain to emulate many of our more environmentally conscientious European neighbours. The scheme was first mooted by Michael Gove, then Environment Secretary, in 2018. ​​Nine years to introduce a relatively simple but environment changing measure, our politicians need to get their finger out!

How will the scheme work? Well actually we don’t quite know, that’s still got to be worked out but basically when you buy drinks in a plastic or metal container an additional deposit (possibly 20p) will be paid which will be returned when the empty container is returned. This is limited to 150ml to 3 litre bottles or cans. Retailers will have to provide a return facility, either automated or manual, with certain exceptions.

​​The government plans to set up the Deposit Management Organisation(DMO) in April this year, they will fill in the details on how the scheme works and ensure manufacturers and retailers conform.

With British consumers buying over 30 billion single use drinks containers a year, this scheme is long overdue. Currently there are over 50 countries world wide running DRS schemes, European countries running schemes report an over 90% return rate, with Germany leading with 98%. RWF find that well over 50% of the litter we collect along the river is drinks containers. If the people of Keighley prove to be as sensible as the Germans then it will have a fantastic impact on our work. If not, well perhaps it will be a big boost for our funds!

This scheme will not only have a huge environmental impact it will also contribute to the circular economy, with the collected bottles and cans being recycled. The government claims it will create 21,000 new jobs and £10 billion of investment in the recycling industry over the next ten years. We feel that it’s a pity that the DRS in England does not include glass bottles as it does in Scotland and Wales, if it did it would reinforce the circular economy even further and also get them off the river bank.
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Let’s hope that the DRS and the disposable Vapes ban coming into force in June will  improve the environment in Keighley and also reduce the amount of plastic in the river.
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​​​River Worth Friends attended a double celebration on Wednesday. We marked the completion of the River Worth Restoration Project and proudly received the Trout in the Town Silver Accreditation. There was a good turnout for the event at the Old Parcels Office at Keighley Railway Station.

The silver accreditation is a recognition of the hard work of River Worth Friends and it’s volunteers. We run regular work parties on the river and our stalwarts turn up in all weathers, we rely on them.

​The River Worth Restoration Project was led by the Aire Rivers Trust but involved many local bodies; there was funding from Keighley Big Local and the Towns Fund but much of the work was done by volunteers from Aire Rivers Trust, Keighley and Worth Valley Railway environment team and River Worth Friends. There were four main strands to the project:

• Improving access along the river by enhancing some of the dilapidated footpaths that are part of the Worth way.
• Investigation of the health of the river with the help of citizen science volunteers. There were three parts to this:
  • Outfall Safari to pinpoint all the sewage outfalls into the River Worth catchment to aid subsequent monitoring of pollution.
  • Weir Walkers to locate all the weirs on the catchment. Weirs inhibit fish passage, affecting the health of the population.
  • Riverfly monitoring. Sampling the bugs in the river, they act like the canary in the coal mine, indicating pollution incidents.
• In river adjustments to improve the fish habitat. For example felling and pinning trees into the river at Damems to create gravel bars suitable for fish spawning.
• Raising public awareness of the river. This included signage for the footpaths, name plates on the river bridges and an interpretation board at the train station plus various events around the town.

One of the main outcomes of the project is that the river can be a haven not just for wildlife but also for the communities along its banks, a place for relaxation and reflection. 
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Recently, during an idle moment, we were researching on the internet why fly tippers throw their rubbish over the wall instead of leaving it on the road side where we can more easily pick it up, we didn’t find an answer to that! But we did come across an interesting report dated October 2022 from unchecked.uk titled “Tipping Point - Exposing the realities of Britain’s fly tipping enforcement gap”.  It has some interesting data which can put Bradford Council's performance on this in perspective. Here are a few snippets from the report, with pictures of some Keighley fly tipping littered (geddit!) amongst them.
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​We are not sure why the North East, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber were considered the bad guys on this. East of England had 18.6 incidents per 1,000, West Midlands 15.2 and London 42.7.

​It is clear from this report that fly tipping is a national problem with regional hot spots and is not peculiar to Bradford as some would argue. The problem has got out of hand because cash strapped enforcement bodies do not have the resources to bring prosecutions. 

​Fly tipping and litter are a matter of civic pride, seeing rubbish strewn about the neighbourhood has an impact on how you feel about your community and probably about yourself. We need politicians to step up and say enough is enough  and fund increased enforcement and also encourage a mindset that makes littering, and hopefully fly tipping unthinkable.