Environmental improvements at Forge Dam

The Friends of the Porter Valley have raised £258,000 over the last eight years towards de-silting, environmental improvements and river channel changes to Forge Dam. “It’s been a long time, and so far there hasn’t been any action because it’s a very complicated project, so we wanted to show we were doing something,” said FOPV chair Ann le Sage.“People are worried at the moment, so we decided now is not the time to cancel this job, which could still be done.”Brandon Wittram of the River Stewardship Company oversaw the three hour mud removal operation last week.“I thought it would be smellier,” he observed next to the flattened silt, which he added would be taken over by springtime plants in as little as two months. The 40 foot long five foot deep silt trap was almost full before work began, he said, and should now flow clearer and allow silt from upstream to stay out of Forge Dam before the plans for the whole dam to be de-silted next winter, if a FOPV funding bid this summer to the National Heritage Lottery Fund for the remaining funds needed is successful.

“People have been told to exercise,” said Ann, “so we know people will be using this path. By doing this we wanted them to know that we are going to restore the heritage, that there is a future.” She added that the many paths around Forge Dam are popular with walkers and runners (and cyclists on the overlooking bridleway a few yards away). The route up the river valley offers several parallel paths to allow ‘social distancing’ now and in the future. “This is a beautiful park for Sheffield,” Ann said, “and over the whole project, people have been very supportive.” The longstanding ‘Forge Dam Heritage and Habitat Improvement Project’ aims to restore a more natural environment to the area, along with initiatives and information to help people understand the 250 year old history of the dam, originally built for the forge of Thomas Boulsover, who invented Sheffield plate steel in the 18th century.A new underwater wall will guide the Porter directly to the outflow waterfall, while the huge island in the dam will be reduced in size, and a lot more than 30 tons of silt will be taken out, resulting, it’s hoped, in an area of water which should be more attractive to both human visitors and local wildlife.

Last week’s work above the dam was to tackle one of the main causes of the problem. “Hopefully, the silt trap will now do what it’s meant to be doing,” said Brandon Wittram. The exercise also showed the Friends what a de-silting operation entails, said Ann. “It’s been a dry run for us,” she said, before looking at the pile of extracted mud beside her. “Or should I say a wet run?” See: https://www.fopv.org.uk/​​​​​​​