Welcome to Friends of the Rib & Quin
Friends of the Rib & Quin (FORQ) is a community based organisation dedicated to improving the plight of our local chalk streams, which like the other rare and precious chalk streams across Hertfordshire and the south east of England are in crisis due to over abstraction and pollution.
Our objectives are to raise awareness of these important and rare river environments through events throughout the year, benchmark and monitor the river landscape, wildlife and biodiversity through citizen science projects and campaign, with other river groups to reduce and stop the over abstraction of the chalk aquifer which has been slowly depleting this environment for decades.
Latest News
State of our rivers
This article brings together information gathered from the Environment Agency through their Data Catchment Explorer, industry data collated by The Rivers Trust and information taken from the Defra sponsored Chalk Stream Restoration Strategy 2021 chaired by Charles Rangeley-Wilson.
Much of it was first presented as part of our Spring 2022 Public Meeting in High Cross.
Phosphate pollution
Over the last few months Friends of the Rib & Quin have introduced a water testing regime at several of our Riverfly monitoring sites, specifically looking at phosphate levels.
This article highlights the levels of phosphate found and the apparent culpability of Buntingford Sewage Treatment Works in causing the pollution.
River water quality
The quality of water in a chalk stream is one of it’s key attributes. Rainwater that falls in the catchment percolates through the chalk, emerging through fissures to create springs of pure, naturally filtered crystal clearwater of a constant temperature. How far up the catchment the springs will run is driven by the level of groundwater in the aquifer.
But of course, not all the water in our chalk streams is derived from spring sources.
Local historian and writer Kathryn Shreeve has been with Friends of the Rib & Quin from the very beginning. She has published several books on the area through the ages and in ‘Life Along the River’ tells the story of our river valleys through history, serialised into chapters on our website.
and The Rib from Braughing to the River Lea
More News and Blog Posts
Two riverfly discoveries on the River Mimram in 2021
Robin Cole, one of Hertfordshire’s volunteer riverfly coordinators has written a paper covering the discoveries of case sharing in the cased caddis Agapetus fuscipes, and the first record of the mayfly Heptagenid sulphurea on the River Mimram. Click here to read the paper that was published by Hertfordshire Natural History Society and shared by Robin…
Buntingford Aspenden Road Bridge Riverfly Monitoring – December 2022
Site: Aspenden Road Bridge, Buntingford, River RibRecorders: David Edwards, John HoodSurvey date: 3rd December 2022Time: 1500hrsAir temperature:Water Temperature: 4 degWeather: Flow: 2Phosphate: 2.50+Nitrate: 50.0Nitrite: 0.5 Cased Caddisfly51Caseless caddisfly00Mayfly (Ephemeridae)00BWO (Ephemerellidae)00Olives (Baetidae)00Stoneflies00Shrimps (Gammarus)00Score1Stickleback (1), Water hog louse (30), leeches (15), Crane fly larvae (1)
Buntingford Watermill Bridge Riverfly Monitoring – December 2022
Site: Luynes Rise, Buntingford, River RibRecorders: David Edwards, John HoodSurvey date: 3rd December 2022Time: 1400hrsAir temperature:Water Temperature: 4 degreesWeather: Flow: 2Phosphate: 0.53Nitrate: 10Nitrite: 0.15 Cased Caddisfly11Caseless caddisfly00Mayfly (Ephemeridae)00BWO (Ephemerellidae)11Olives (Baetidae)00Stoneflies00Shrimps (Gammarus)402Score4Stickleback (1), Water hog louse (100) snails (10), Leeches (10)
Buntingford’s River Rib Restoration Project underway
We are pleased to report that Buntingford Town Council’s River Rib Restoration Project is now underway. The following is taken from the Town Council’s website. Back in 2018 Buntingford Town Council embarked on a project to enhance 2km of the River Rib for wildlife and people of the town. The River Rib, classified as a…
Jack’s Field, River Quin Riverfly Monitoring – October 2022
Site: Jack’s Field, River Quin, BraughingRecorders: Andy Ayres, Mark WilkinsonSurvey date: 31st October 2022Time: 1230hrsFlow (0-5): 1Air temperature:Water temperature: 12CWeather: Phosphate: 0.14ppmNitrate (NO3-N): 5ppmNitrite: 0 Cased Caddice102Caseless caddice21Burrowing Mayflies (Ephemeridae)11Blue-winged Olives (Ephemerellidae)Olives (Baetidae)252StonefliesShrimps (Gammarus)1503Score9 FishBullheads1Sticklebacks0Minnows0Trout0Stone Loaches0Up-wing fliesCaenidae0Leptophlebiidae0DecapodaCrayfish0IsopodaWater Hoglouse (Asellus)2MegalopteraAlderflies0Damselflies0OtherLeeches10Beetle larvae (Great Diving)0Cranefly Larvae10 Comments:
Gravelly Lane Ford River Quin Riverfly Monitoring – October 2022
Site: River Quin, Gravelly Lane Ford, BraughingRecorders: Andy Ayres, Mark WilkinsonSurvey date: 28th October 2022Time: 1600hrsFlow (0-5): 1 – 2Air temperature: Water temperature: 12oCWeather: Phosphate: 0.07ppmNitrate (NO3-N): 10ppmNitrite: 0 Cased Caddis12Caseless caddis00Burrowing Mayflies (Ephemeridae)00Blue-winged Olives (Ephemerellidae)00Olives (Baetidae)502Stoneflies00Shrimps (Gammarus)2003Score7 FishBullheads0Sticklebacks0Minnows0Trout0Stone Loaches0Up-wing fliesCaenidae0Leptophlebiidae0DecapodaCrayfish0IsopodaWater Hoglouse (Asellus)4MegalopteraAlderflies0Damselflies0OtherLeeches8Adult Beetle1Bloodworms0
VISIT OUR ONLINE SHOP AND DISCOVER A RANGE OF T SHIRTS AND OTHER ITEMS THAT LOOK GREAT AND RAISE VITAL FUNDS FOR OUR WORK
| Lottery | Social History | Wildlife recording |
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| Friends of the Rib & Quin has joined the East Herts Lottery as a way to raise funds towards our ongoing costs. The East Herts Lottery runs on a weekly basis with each ticket costing £1. Half of the ticket price goes directly to Friends of the Rib & Quin. A further 10% goes to a general good cause fund, with the remaining 40% covering prizes and admin. Full details of the lottery and how to buy tickets can be found via our lottery web page here, or from the LOTTERY menu link in the website header. | Taking inspiration from the great social historian of Victorian East Anglia – George Ewart Evans, FORQ would like to contribute in a small way to the recording of our own social history. We have created a form to record individual reminiscences of the rivers, the history, archaeology, wildlife, fishing and memories of occasions spent in work and play, on, around or living near them. If you have a story about living in the Rib or Quin valleys why not record it here. | Recording the wildlife of the Rib & Quin Valleys is a key element of the work of Friends of the Rib & Quin. You can contribute too, just by recording the plants, trees, animals, birds and funghi you see via the iNaturalist smartphone app and your sightings will be automatically added to our project page. The project began in January 2020 and now has over 600 recorded sightings and in excess of 300 species identified. Take a look here. |
We have some of the rarest ecosystems in the world in Hertfordshire and they are under threat.
The River Rib is a chalk stream in North East Hertfordshire that rises close to the village of Buckland. It then runs south through Wydial, Buntingford and Westmill, before reaching Braughing, Standon and Puckeridge. Continuing south it divides the villages of Thundridge and Westmill before swinging south-west to join the River Lea between Hertford and Ware.
The Quin rises close to Cokenach and flows near Barkway, Hormead and Hare Street before reaching Braughing and joining the Rib.
Chalk streams are incredibly important and globally rare environment with a unique ecology. There are no more than 200 of these streams and rivers in the world, several of which are in Hertfordshire, including;
– River Mimram
– River Beane
– River Rib
– River Quin
– River Ash
– River Stort
– River Ver
– River Chess
– River Hiz
Friends of the Rib & Quin is a community organisation focused on protecting and improving the habitats and environment of the River Rib and River Quin to the benefit of wildlife and the local community.
If you’re a landowner, member of a local group / organisation, or individual interested in finding out more about how you might get involved in protecting and improving your local river, we’d love to hear from you!
Drop us an email at FORQcomms@gmail.com or use the Contact page in the menu above so that we have your contact details and we will keep you updated of upcoming meetings and activities.
Friends of the Rib and Quin 