I’ve been doing a few presentations this autumn, including at the 25th anniversary of the Chilterns Chalk Stream Project: a fascinating day in St Alban’s with a walk beside the River Ver through Verulamium Park.

To mark the day the Chilterns AONB produced a booklet called Celebrating 25 Years of the Chilterns Chalk Stream Project. There were a few copies in the room and I made sure to keep mine. It includes a fascinating, stream by stream analysis of pressures including some revealing water quality charts which show so clearly how various pressures very between different parts of a given stream and between streams: the impact of the canal on phosphorous levels in the Bulbourne, for example, is clear as day. But it’s more than a techie analysis: it’s very approachable and it also evokes so well how important chalk streams are to this special part of England.

When I mentioned to Kate Heppell how good I thought the book was, she said they had only printed a few copies. Which is great shame. However, it is now available online as a PDF and if I were you I’d download a copy pronto as it is a fascinating read and a fascinating history of the Chilterns Chalk Stream project and all the good work it does.

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF THE CHILTERNS CHALK STREAM PROJECT