My dream job
I first started fishing when I was 11 on a holiday to Normandy in France. Whilst staying in a traditional farm cottage with a small brook running through the grounds, I convinced my mum to buy me a small whip …
On the road to recovery in Yorkshire
It has been over 200 days since communities across Yorkshire had their Christmas stolen by Storm Eva. Flood defences were damaged and our telemetry stations – which monitor river levels - logged record-breaking levels, alongside the obvious and devastating damage …
A lifelong passion that keeps reeling me in
Nick Beardmore joined the Environment Agency in 1999 as a water baliff. Between 2006 and 2011, he also worked as a water sampler alongside his enforcement work. For the past five years he has been a full time fisheries enforcement …
Not just the day job: Hooked on fishing
Alex Malcolm, Environment Monitoring Officer, Sampling and Collection for Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire I started fishing when I was on holiday in Scotland when I was about 7. That was it! I was hooked from then on and pestered my dad …
Reopening the River Roch in Rochdale and reducing flood risk
Richard Farnell, Leader of Rochdale Borough Council, reflects on an Environment Agency backed project to reopen the River Roch in Rochdale town centre and reveal its historic hidden bridge. When I found out that the Environment Agency and Heritage Lottery …
Floodplain Meadows: combining beauty with utility
The value of floodplain meadows was well understood in mediaeval times, when the Domesday Book recorded them as 10 times more valuable than arable land because without them people could not keep their animals alive through the long hard winters. …
Why we cut the grass on flood defences
My name’s Martin Howarth, I manage the Asset Performance Team in Norfolk. The team’s role is to ensure our flood defences are well maintained and able to cope with the pounding they regularly receive from the powerful North Sea waves. …
What do we mean by “Fish in distress”?
I’ve been a Fisheries Officer in the Cumbria and Lancashire for 18 years and I’m well aware that summer can be a very busy time for me and my colleagues. We may have to respond to many fish-related incidents during …
Working to improve water quality
When I was little, one of my favourite activities was to paddle around in streams and rock pools. Things haven’t really changed since then! One component of my job (and my favourite) is to wade up rivers to survey plants …
Salmon returning to Derbyshire!
The River Derwent in Derbyshire was heavily used and altered during the Industrial Revolution. It powered the mills of the leading entrepreneurs of that time, Richard Arkwright and Jedediah Strutt. There were two unforeseen legacies of this development - one …