Defence progress on film
AN AMBITIOUS project which uses natural methods to reduce food risk in the Calder Valley is the focus of a new short film. ‘Slowing the flow together’, a film by Andy Clark, shows how grass-roots community organisation, Slow the Flow, partnered with the National Trust to make a difference in the flood-prone areas of Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd.
The film shows the progress the project’s made since the partnership began in 2017.
Using teams of local volunteers, more than 500 leaky dams have been built in the woods at Hardcastle Crags in the last three years. These leaky dams are made up of trunks, logs or sticks, placed in gulleys and streams.
This helps to slow the flow of water during heavy rainfall, allowing it soak into the woodland floor, rather than rush into streams and rivers at the bottom of the valley.
Bede Mullen, Chair of Slow The Flow said: “The devastating floods in the Calder Valley in 2015 galvanised us to try and make a difference for our local community.
“Our Natural Flood Management work at Hardcastle Crags is our most successful project to date, so it’s great that we’ve been able to share our progress in this film made by Andy Clark. It is also important that we use the film to share our knowledge with other community groups and charities who are also working to reduce flood risk around the UK.”
The film will be shown as part of a special online launch at 7.30pm on June 3 via Zoom, and will then be and will be available daily in the pump room at Gibson Mill in Hardcastle Crags once their visitor centre is open again in the summer.
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