The Ver Valley extends from Kensworth Lynch north of Markyate, south via Redbourn, St.Albans and Park Street to join the River Colne near Bricket Wood. The Valley is formed on chalk covered by a thin layer of clay and flint in the hills with gravel and silt in the valley bottom.
Chalk streams such as the Ver are globally very rare. They have porous beds and rely on a high water table for existence. The springs which feed the valleys flow with mineral-rich, pure water which has been filtered through the chalk. Such water is vital to the flora and fauna typifying a chalk stream. But now the very existence of such rivers, especially the Ver and its tributary the Red are under threat.
The upper section of the River Ver has always been a winterbourne, flowing only at times of high rainfall usually in the winter but from Flamstead south, until recent years, it was a permanent chalk stream. In the 19th and early 20th century the healthy river supported a dozen watermills. The pure, fast flowing, mineral-rich water, of relatively constant temperature, allowed a flourishing watercress industry to develop. Now the spring fed wetlands of the valley are slow to freeze, providing a temporary refuge for over wintering birds and support a variety of plants, animals and invertebrates and birds in summer.
River Ver Video - just click to hear the Ver!
The above video was taken one quiet Sunday morning south of Verlam End in the late spring of 2008.
What's New
Great News - The Heritage Lottery Fund has just awarded us a grant of £49,000 towards the "Ver Valley Access and Interpretation Project" which will now be rolled out over the next 12 months. More news about this in the next newsletter. Special thanks must go to Isabel Crozier of the Countryside Management Services for her efforts. The project will include a linear walk and 8 circular walks along with signage, leaflets, kissing gates, new foot bridges, benches and an improved web site.
Ernie Leahy - Our first new committee member for several years was elected at the October 2008 AGM. Ernie is a long time VVS member and an accomplished wildlife artist and a very welcome addition.
Duncan Gardiner, a former committee member, and the husband of Jane our vice chairman passed away on 30 September after a long and determined struggle with Parkinson's Disease.
Links added to the Ver Valley BBC Three Counties radio programme of 2006,The Three Valleys Water Company, Countryside Managment Services and the Dacorum Environmental Water Group
2009 Programme dates and venues added.
Rainfall and Aquifer charts updated to January 2009
January 2009 newsletter added - News and Notes page now includes all quarterly newsletters from January 2007
For those wishing to research in greater detail the past and present of the River Ver why not look at our extensive archive in St Albans Central Library (Local History Reference Section Ref Y234.303).
Dr Peter Smith CB (1929-2008)
We much regret to announce that Peter Smith died on 17th June after several months of ill-health. He served
the Society extremely well, having been a committee member and then Chairman from 1992 to 2003 and then, for a
far-too-short period this year, President in succession to the late Richard Thrale.
Peter's legacy was steering the Society during his eleven years of Chairmanship and ensuring that it continued to campaign
after the shut-down of Friars Wash pumping station in 1993. He also made a point of establishing good relations
with senior Three Valleys Water officers and we continue to benefit from those connections today. He also worked
tirelessly at Redbournbury mill, spending many hours handling grain and flour with the team of millers, and was a director
of the organisation.
His working career was of great military significance, including radar development at Malvern with the Defence
Scientific staff, moving on to the Central Scientific Staff at the Ministry of Defence, finally as Director General responsible
for procuring guided weapons and electronic equipment. He was appointed Companion, Order of the Bath, in
1988. Qualifications: Ph.D and B.Sc (both in physics).
In retirement he kept up his interests in music, gardening, expert bird-watching, reading -and the environment, from
which the Society greatly benefited. His wise counsel will be greatly missed.
The VVS extends its sympathy to Peter's two daughters, Alison and Linda, who cared for him latterly (his wife Doreen
pre-deceased him), and the rest of the family.
Four members of the committee attended the funeral at St Peter's Church on 4th July.
John Cadisch - July 2008
The Web Site
The original web site was set up by Judy Green, a past committee member and now a vice president of the Ver Valley Society. A couple of years ago with the help of Neville Benn and Stephen Wragg this new web site replaced the original. We are gradually updating and improving the information available on the site. The costs of this have been largely funded from a legacy from a past member of the society, Catherine Tomkinson, who was at the first meetings in 1976. We hope that this web site is a fitting tribute to this lady who was committed to preserving her local environment and in particular her local chalk stream.
The Ver and Its People
Man has always relied on clean, fresh water for himself and his animals, in the past taking it straight from the river. However steadily increasing demands on water resources over the second half of the last century meant that supplies had to be drawn from deep in the chalk aquifer by means of boreholes. This is ground water which would normally feed into the River.
Now at the start of the 21st century further large areas of the country have been designated for new house building. Statistics show continued increase in water consumption per head. However the Ver Valley Society is striving to increase awareness of the impending ecological problems that this demand for water will cause, especially at a time when global warming poses its own threat.
The Ver must not be allowed to dwindle away as it nearly did in the early 1990s.
About the Ver Valley Society
The Ver Valley Society exists to protect and promote all aspects of the River Ver and its valley. We have nearly 200 members and are always pleased to welcome new ones. The Society was originally founded in 1976 to promote the Ver/Colne Walk but shortly thereafter the river, and its valuable water meadows, began to decline due to over abstraction of ground water and climate change. In 1993 we were instrumental in having one of the many pumping stations put onto standby status but over 30 million litres of water per day for local consumption are still pumped out of deep boreholes in the chalk aquifer, so we have still have a long way to go to safeguard our river.
Chalk streams, or winterbournes, are globally rare habitats supporting a very special ecology. We have divided the 24km length of the river into 12 stretches, from its sometime source at Kensworth Lynch, north of Markyate, to the confluence with the Colne near Bricket Wood. These sections are regularly patrolled by our volunteer bailiffs. As well as measuring the flow, they send in reports on wildlife, plants, invasive species, pollution, blockages, the state of the paths etc, and relevant bodies are contacted when necessary.
Newsletter
We produce a quarterly newsletter and hold four Open Meetings a year at different venues up and down the valley, where as well as reporting on river matters, we have a speaker on a relevant topic.
Next Open Meeting
For all details of our next Open Meeting see the News and Notes page.
Non members are welcome to attend our meetings. There is no admission charge.
