Stop Ure Pollution has received a donation of £500 from the Wensleydale and Swaledale Quaker Trust to purchase testing equipment and reagents.

Thanks to a grant from Surfers Against Sewage and a donation from the Jervaulx Fly Fishers the group has bought monitors for checking the levels of such pollutants as phosphates and nitrites. But it also wants to purchase equipment to check levels of E.coli and to work with Save Our Swale on DNA testing.

It aims to follow-up on the water sampling carried out last year and to check specific sites regularly so that a clear and balanced picture can be obtained of the levels and causes of pollution.

Its chairman, Professor Richard Loutoka, said: ‘We hope to continue to raise public awareness of the state of the river and address the causes of the pollution with the polluters. We will also try to raise funds for our water-testing projects and possibly other projects including measuring bacterial endotoxin levels and looking at invertebrate life in the river.’ 

The Wensleydale and Swaledale Quaker Trust has its origins in the 17th and 18th centuries with bequests in Wills which sought to provide for the poor and the maintenance of local Quaker Meeting Houses. The money was mainly invested in dwellings in Wensleydale which are maintained and rented to those living and/or working locally. The objectives of the Trust include assisting local charitable work and maintaining the Quaker Meeting Houses at Bainbridge, Countersett and Leyburn. Last year it donated £500 to Save Our Swale.

Above: Looking upstream from Kilgram Bridge, with Penhill in the distance. In the nearer view, on the right hand bank, is visible the pumping station for Thornton Steward Reservoir. This supplies drinking water to Swaledale, Wensleydale, Northallerton, and Thirsk. Surprising, for such a small reservoir! Photo and caption by Pamela Knights

Jervaulx Fly Fishers asked Stop Ure Pollution's chairman, Prof Richard Loukota, to present the results of the testing at the recent AGM, where it was stated that the number of wild trout, grayling and salmon caught by members has reduced significantly, especially over recent years. Above: River Ure near Jervaulx

A spokesman for the fishing group said: "The members of Jervaulx Fly Fishers enjoy the peace and beauty of Lower Wensleydale. We are happy to be able to support the efforts of Stop Ure Pollution in maintaining the quality of the river for all who appreciate the dale."

Stop Ure Pollution has now started to raise funds to continue testing, to buy testing equipment, to lobby individual stakeholders and to raise awareness of the condition of the river.

Prof Loukota thanked Jervaulx Fly Fishers and said the donation will go towards the cost of buying Fluidion equipment which will be used to test for E.coli.

If you or your business are interested in sponsoring Stop Ure Pollution in future, please contact Toby Milbank via the contact form.

Above: The Surfers Against Sewage Battlebus at Aysgarth in June 2024. 

During 2024 Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) allocated a grant of £2,000 to Stop Ure Pollution. Besides helping towards the cost of hiring halls and rooms for meetings, printing flyers this was used to obtain several monitors/colorimeters. 

Colorimetry is the use of coloured compounds to determine the concentration of a target chemical-compound such as phosphates. SUP now has colorimeters for phosphate, nitrate, ammonia and nitrate, as well as monitors for pH, temperature and suspended solids. 

Thanks to the SAS grant SUP was also able to obtain a sampling cup and rods, sample bottles, cool bag and cooling packs (for samples), cleaning wipes, transport bags, standardising solutions, and sanitiser.