Andy's story

Andy Moon - Volunteer and creator of Friends of Codnor Park Reservoir and Cromford Canal group

“Back in May 2016 I approached Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to ask if I could clear some of the reed that was dominating the canal to restore a better balance of open water and aquatic vegetation. I’m a local chap who loves walking the dog along the towpath every day and watching the variety of wildlife that can be seen there. In particular I noticed the kingfisher was becoming scarcer since the open water was being taken over by reed and it could no longer hunt the small fish that live in the canal.

I had also seen some evidence of water vole there but it was patchy and again they were very hard to spot. Having done some research I knew that a mosaic of open water and short bankside vegetation, along with some areas of reed would offer the best habitat for many wetland birds and animals but the Trust seemed very short of resource to carry out the practical works required.

I was given the go-ahead to do some work and it became a weekly mission to clear a little more each time.

I saw results very quickly and within a few months I had cleared between two of the existing locks and water voles were appearing all along the channels I had created. At this point I set up a Facebook group – Friends of Codnor Park Reservoir and Cromford Canal, simply to share photos and to encourage more local people to care about their patch”.