New River Keeper in Fairford

Our newly appointed River Keeper on our Fairford Estate in Gloucestershire has been busy protecting the banks of the River Coln, using bundles of coppiced hazel sticks removed from Lea Wood by heavy horse power.

Mark, who has wide experience in estate work and fisheries management, started work with The Ernest Cook Trust in mid-March (2025). One of his first tasks has been utilising the hazel bundles on the upstream section of the Coln, where the banks have been scoured out by the current.

The bundles, woven together with willow in a practice known as spiling, are held in place under water with chestnut stakes. Mark said they are already helping to deflect the flow of water away from banks vulnerable to erosion and creating gravel areas suitable for fish to spawn in.

The hazel was pulled out of Lea Wood in March using low impact horse power by local horse logger Dave and Harry, his seven-year-old French Comtois. The work was part of a coppicing project to enhance the woodland and its wildlife, led by our Conservation & Woodland Manager Joe.

The work has given Mark, a self-confessed heavy horse fan, the idea of further tasks for Harry and Dave, moving materials on soft and boggy areas of the riverbank that might be damaged by the use of a tractor.

Mark joined The Ernest Cook Trust from an estate in Herefordshire and has taken on responsibility for the management of approximately three miles of the Coln, along with its tributary streams and ditches. The section of the river through estate land runs from Quenington as far as the town bridge in Fairford.

Mark manages the stocks of wild brown trout and grayling on behalf of the 20-strong angling syndicate that has the fishing rights on the Coln. In addition, fishing is rented to the Cotswold Flyfishers.

“There are also lots of birds, including wildfowl and waders in the area,” he said. “And we have otters up and down the river, which is nice to see, especially as they eat the crayfish.”

He is looking forward to supporting Outdoor Learning experiences on the river, part of The Ernest Cook Trust’s charitable objectives, including activities like pond-dipping.

“It is good for young people to recognise and respect that there are things that live below the surface of the water,” he said. “They are not visible – like a flock of goldfinches flying over your garden would be – but they are just as important.”

Mark said the river was in generally good health, although there were challenges as a result of ground water abstraction and pollution risk. One solution to slow flows is to reduce the channel width of the river in some places, he said.

Mark is part of the team led by Joe, Conservation and Woodland Manager, who acknowledged: 

Read more about the heavy horse extraction of hazel bundles from nearby Lea Wood, used in our river conservation work:

A school river visit on the River Coln