Running into troubled times

Yet behind the picturesque image, the river is battling serious problems which illustrate graphically the damage which man can do to his environment.

The Swale is different to other rivers featured in this series because, before their recoveries, the problems on the Tyne, Wear and Tees were entirely man-made, decades of industrial pollution having all but wiped out their wildlife.

Swaledale has little industry and the water is some of the purest in Britain, but since man's intervention, there is too much of it and it is flowing far too quickly.

The Swale is a fast river because it drops 114 metres, from its headwaters near Keld village, to Richmond at the bottom of the valley. It is also a spate river, naturally prone to rapid rises during periods of high rainfall. Left undisturbed, such natural characteristics would not be problematic.

But in the 1960s, landowners, encouraged by the government, embarked on large scale drainage of the uplands, drying out areas for grouse shooting and sheep grazing. Digging "grip" drains continued until the 1980s by which time it had become clear that they were destroying the soil's sponge-like character which meant it no longer allowed rainwater to seep slowly into rivers. Instead, rain poured off the land, causing dramatic increases in river levels way above natural flash conditions.

Landowners had also allowed sheep grazing along the banks of the Swale, and the loss of vegetation which holds up the passage of water into the river during periods of heavy rainfall was catastrophic.

The artifically-increased power of the river meant it lost the aquatic plants, invertebrates, shallows and pools which attract fish, and its banks became seriously eroded and suffered increasing landslips. Overgrazing meant the loss of insect species and the loss of overhanging trees and bushes, which provide shade, further depleted fish numbers. In short, the food chain broke down.

Complicating matters has been recent climate change, leading to more frequent heavy rainfall. Richmond's annual rainfall alone has doubled in just two years.

The crisis led, in 1998, to the launch of a three-year project to begin the long task of restoring the river to full health. Led by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, the Swale Regeneration Project is backed by Muker-based environmental business Ecoscope, polythene company BPI, which helped tackle the problem of discarded black agricultural bags, English Nature, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency, the Salmon and Trout Association and the Army, which has extensive land in the Yorkshire Dales. They are supported by local businesses, members of the community and anglers who conducted survey work.

Perhaps the most significant problem has been persuading people that the river has problems in the first place. Kathryn Beardsmore, regional manager for the National Park, says: "The Swale is a lovely looking river and people view it as a landscape. They don't look at it and see that there is not the organic matter which it needs or that the banks have been neglected for years."

Project manager James Lamb, who is also a ranger for the National Park, adds: "There remains a perception that there is not a problem. If you stood at Grinton Bridge and looked down, the river would look fine. But there are problems and it is important that the community is involving itself in these issues."

The project was the brainchild of Peter MacGillivray, a prominent national and local member of the Salmon and Trout Association, who was alarmed at the dramatic decline in fish numbers.

He says: "Local people talk of times when there was a plentitude of fish. The association recently put 2,000 fish into the river but people don't want to see stocked fish, they want to see wild brown trout.

"The idea behind the project was to rejuvenate the river. It is one of the best rivers in terms of water purity but the problem is caused by the volume and speed of water. In some places, it is like the Cresta Run and, at one point during recent heavy rains, the river rose three metres in 20 minutes at Grinton Bridge."

The project has initiated measures including reducing grazing, 17.5 hectares of tree planting, and work to stabilise crumbling banks. Landowners are being encouraged to continue blocking up grip drains and volunteers have been working to improve conditions for fish in tributaries and upland pools.

Peter McGillivray says: "If we can get the habitat right, everyone will be happy, the otter people will be happy, the fishers will be happy and the people who come to see the view will be happy."

But there is a long way to go, even though there are signs of a return to the Swale of the otters - the ultimate symbol of a river's health. Sylvia Jay, otters and rivers officer attached to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, says: "Upstream from Richmond, the wildlife is not up to the levels we would like to see. Certainly, otter are not up to a full recovery as a population on the Swale as a whole."

Everyone involved in repairing the damage acknowledges that the work must continue long after the European Union-funded project finishes in a few months' time and there is satisfaction that dalesfolk are starting to realise their individual responsibilites.

Kathryn Beardsmore says: "We have raised the profile of the Swale. The local community will benefit from the improvement in the river as will businesses which depend on it. There are a lot of positives coming out of the project. People are realising that something which they do has an impact downstream. We are looking at the catchment as a whole, it is all encompassing."

Meanwhile the river chuckles and chatters beneath the bridge at Grinton as if it did not have a care in the world.