In March we had a great session with Year 3 from Bardsey Primary Academy. They came over the road from the school to get involved.

We talked to them about how water travels through the landscape and demonstrated how it travels much faster in pipes or across hard surfaces than across more natural ground. We did this using some plastic guttering laid across the field and we ran lots of balls down the gutter. They travelled quickly down the slope, a bit like water in a pipe. Alongside this, another group of children dropped the balls onto the field. These slowly ran down the hill and stopped before getting as far as the end of the gutter. A great demonstration of how if we take water out of pipes and enable it to filter slowly across the land surface then it slows it down and reduces flooding issues further down the catchment!

This is exactly what we have been doing in conjunction with Yorkshire Water and the Yorkshire Dales Wildlife Trust recently! We’ve dug into the pipes that took water directly from the school roofs and under the field into the beck at the bottom. When it rained these pipes were flowing fast. Now the water will flow down the field more slowly. Some will soak in and evaporate and it will create some wetter areas on the field for different habitats. You might also have seen our wooden leaky barriers  – the idea is that when it’s raining very hard these will trap and slow down the water going across the field, further slowing it down. The children were very impressed!

They then got stuck in and planted some trees. A whole host of species. These will create great habitat and also soak up more water! They learnt about the different animals that might eat young trees, like mice, rabbits and deer, and that’s why we need to use fences and tree guards for the first few years while they establish. The children were excited at the prospect of coming back with their families and see their patch of woodland growing!

Emma Wren