THURROCK's deputy mayor donned his wellies and took an up close and personal look at work being done to restore parts of the Mardyke Valley recently.

Along with members of the public who were invited to see first hand #how work is shaping up, Cllr James Halden visited borough park Davy Down to see the restoration work on the river there.

The event was part of London Rivers Week organised by conservation action group Thames21

Also present to welcome Cllr Halden and visitors were representatives of Land of the Fanns, the partnership aimed at engaging the local communities of Havering, Barking & Dagenham, Thurrock, Brentwood and south-west Essex with the natural, geological, archaeological and built heritage of their area.

Representatives from The Land Trust, Essex and Suffolk Water and Essex Wildlife Trust also attended the event where visitors were able to see and hear about the habitat creation and floodplain restoration work carried out on the site to create a number of wetland scrapes and ponds.

Providing wellies, gloves and tools, Thames21 led the group in pond dipping to identify what invertebrates are already making the wetland areas their home, in reed planting to retain the banks of the ponds, wild flower seed scattering and also the removal of the invasive plant floating pennywort which can choke a water body of light and oxygen, impacting native plant species.

Cllr Halden said: "I am delighted to attend this celebration event at Davy Down Riverside Park for such a special occasion during London Rivers Week 2021.

"The Mardyke Valley Habitat Creation and Restoration Project has brought us all together with a common purpose; to celebrate, restore and reconnect with our local landscapes.

"The Mardyke River connects us to the River Thames, which is at the heart of Thurrock, and thanks to the hard work of everyone involved in this project we can look forward to enjoying more of our beautiful landscape in the near future. Thank you to all of those who have taken the time to attend today."

Aisling Woodhead, Environment Engagement Officer, Land of the Fanns, said: "It was wonderful to see the wetland ponds and scrapes already full with water only a couple of months after completion, creating a fantastic mosaic of waterbodies which will introduce greater biodiversity."

Cllr Halden was presented with a copy of Fens, Forests and Fields, the book which celebrates the landscape of the Land of the Fanns.

The book, containing stories gathered from local people across the area about what makes it special to them and illustrated with images of the 100 flags created with communities by arts organisation, Kinetika, can be purchased from the Thames Chase Forest Centre (see link below).

To find out more about the Land of the Fanns and how you can get involved in environmental and heritage projects, click this link[L+]. Information about the Thames Chase Community Forest can be found [L] https://www.thameschase.org.uk/ [L+]here.