This river in recent times has had a right dirty reputation but in the 1700's it was reknowned for it's eels.

Here is a little extract from "Anglers Vade Mecum 1681" - The Irwell eel is highly applauded for its excellent taste by persons, mere strangers & such as had the estimation of curious palates: and having often enquired of the neighbouring people to it what might be the reason, they have unanimously scribed it to the numerous of Fulling Mills that stand on the river, & say that the fat,oil & grease scoured out of the cloth make the eels palatable far above other river eels.

I think that the above article was referring to the mills which discharged into the river. The cloth was called 'Fustian' which was a mixture of wool & cotton.

I would like to report that now fish are back in the river. Roach, brown trout, perch , gudgeon, chub & pike have all been pulled out of the river Irwell.

Considering that the north of England & particularly Lancashire was industrialised I am quite proud of the fact that the river has been cleaned up so well that fish are now being caught.

My husband actually pulled out a 1 & 1/2 lb chub out at Ringley Bridge last year.

From a contact on the Knowhere site for Farnworth I was sent a pic of a 14lb Pike that was pulled out lower down towards Clifton (see pic) .
It was returned safely as we are all valuing this regeneration even in predator terms.

We look forward to things getting better but I will never eat river eels no matter what the Anglers Times of the 1700's recommends.

That's great news to hear! I'm interested to know how the river has been cleaned up, and over what time period? I would imagine it would take a big effort for some time to clean a river like that up after the the pollution that must have been dumped in it in the past. Have the eels began to return at all?

That's an impressive Pike in the picture!

Two of my relatives were rowers on the River Irwell, back in the day (around the 1880s). I've got a lovely book about the River Irwell, although I don't remember the book making mention of any eels. I shall have to find the book!

My father was born in Barton upon Irwell. I don't know what kind of fish he may have seen in the Irwell, but I doubt very many.

It is quite remarkable that the Irwelll has regenerated as well as it has, but I seriously doubt I would want to eat eels from that water either .

Kingfisher

The regeneration of the river started in the mid 1970's.It started in the upper reaches & it has gradually been worked on all the way down to the city centre of Manchester. The making of the Croal Irwell valley conservation area has been carried out by different councils as it passed through their areas, along with North West water as it was & the environment agency.Measures included huge programme of planting trees, footpaths & strict legislation concerning industrial discharges into the river all combined.
I once remember seeing the River Arun near Arundel Castle & the Avon at Fordinbridge & I had never see rivers so clean & I hope that this river can still be continued to be cleaned.

This is a video news report about Eagley Brook which feeds the upper reaches of the Irwell. Last year some company discharged into the Brook & was prosecuted as it killed over 10,000 fish. There was a huge public outcry.

see the video news report :- http://www.boltoneveningnews.co.uk/news/...69.0.0.php

I see that 4000 brown trout have just been released as a re-stocking measure. It's hard to understand how people can care so little about where they live that they can just throw drums of acid into a river.

Kingfisher

Thi sis not the average person but some company or someone making a fast buck (as you might say in US)  to dump waste into a watercourse not understanding the ramifications of their actions, or not even caring. it is a good job that someone does care isn't it?

This post was last modified: 24-04-2007 03:42 PM by tibbar.

Yes, although it so often seems an uphill battle. It seems so short sighted to destroy something which took years or even eons to create.

I know years ago people didn't stop to think about the damage they could cause. The introduction of the Starling into the United States is a classic example.

Kingfisher

Unfortunately in the past we (as humans) have been very short sighted. Money and greed has always won out over the environment and in some places it always will. Attitudes are changing though and the River Irwell is an example of this.

It is a good job someone cares, but I find the short sighted-ness (if that is a word) of politicians the most frustrating. A lot of companies seem to be trying to change their ways, probably mainly because they realise it will hurt their public image if they don't. Sorry to change the subject slightly, but no politician seems to think further than their term.