Mile 31 Bailey Hills 245’

 

Mile 31 Bailey Hills 245’

From the right bank where there is a cornucopia of structures that mark human interference. What we got? A gas pipe, an Environment Agency gauge, an old mill or warehouse and a 17^th century weir. My cup runneth o’er.

Weirs like this are a barrier to migration for a broad range of fish species. Tiddlers can wriggle up shallow sloping weirs but this one is relatively steep and for larger fish in moderate flow levels there is not enough run-up depth at the weir's foot. One reason fish migrate is to reach spawning grounds. Some over short distances and others the whole length of a river. Atlantic salmon swim from the sea and up river to shallows when a high water level begins to drop, muscling their way up at 30 to 40mph and leaping up waterfalls. Impressive beasts and there is a good chance they will make it up the Aire if its condition continues to improve and it becomes attractive.

Salmon fact: they instinctively return to their own spawning site but about ten percent take a wrong turn at some point and so their off-spring return. This is how we hope salmon will find their way to colonise the River Aire and its tributaries.