This was the third time South Cumbria Rivers Trust requested my services and this was the biggest project they had been involved in and one of the biggest of its kind in Europe. My remit, as previously, was to record the before, during and after, as the weir was removed and the River Kent was helped to return to its previous levels. The aim was to allow a natural reclamation to take place both in the river and in the immediate vicinity, to increase biodiversity. A lot of preparation took place to take care of every possible scenario, particularly in relation to potential extreme weather, but in the end the work went remarkably smoothly and the river looked like it had been waiting for this to happen and there was far less remedial work to be done than was expected. One coincidence for me was that at the same time as documenting this project, I was working on a updated promotional film for James Cropper plc less than a mile down river from this weir, which was actually owned by Croppers.
I wasn’t initially sure what editing was going to be needed, but in the end I was asked to create two films for the trust. The Bowston Weir removal was entered into two competitions, with different rules regarding the evidence that could be submitted. One allowed a five minute film, whereas the other only allowed a minute long film, hence the very different presentations above. Both required a significant amount of additional filming of interviews with different specialists involved in the project which was an added challenge to include. However this was well scripted and organised, and ultimately worked really well.
The additional film below is just a simple slow flight up the river past where the weir used to sit. You can see where boulders have been deposited downstream to help slow the river, but upstream the river appears to have just settled straight back in to where it used to flow.