Community directory

Ver Valley Society

Venues: Redbourn, Bricket Wood, St Albans and Markyate.
Meets: January, April, July and October at 7.30pm.

The society aims to protect the River Ver, in particular by highlighting the environmental damage to wetland habitats due to the combined effects of over-abstraction of groundwater for public water supply and periodic drought.

The River Ver is one of many chalk streams and rivers in the south of England suffering from low flows. It drains from the Chiltern Hills and runs south through Markyate, Redbourn, St Albans and Park Street for 20 km to join the River Colne near Bricket Wood, which in turn runs into the River Thames west of London. It was once famous for its sparkling spring water. Trout, eels and crayfish were caught in abundance, and watercress was farmed widely.

The combination of 8 groundwater pumping-stations (in particular, the Friars Wash pumping-station near Flamstead which until 1993 supplied 15 million litres of water per day to the Luton area) and the driest period for over 200 years has meant that the river has been dry all year round in its upper reaches. Between April and November, the Ver south of Redbourn, through St Albans, hardly flows at all. This has led to large scale degradation of its ecological and landscape value. The Society tries to promote awareness of these issues.

'Our River, indeed any natural waterway and its valley, links towns and villages, people and places. It has been a unique part of the local landscape for millions of years (far younger than St Albans Abbey or the remains of the Roman Verulamium), and will be for millions more. The Ver links the present with the past and the future. It is liquid history'.

There is now an extensive River Ver / Ver Valley Society Archive at St Albans Central Library (Local History Reference Section). It includes many old photos, maps and other material illustrating the changing landscape of the Ver and its valley; in all, this is about 1000 pages of information, along with numerous other publications and leaflets related to the Ver and issues affecting our rivers and water supply. There is also additional information on other rivers in Hertfordshire and Chilterns Chalk Streams

The Archive comprises the following subjects:
* A complete set of Ver Valley Society newsletters.
* Approx. 500 newspaper articles and correspondence.
* The River Ver and Abstraction.
* The Upper Ver.
* Watercress Industry.
* Watermills.
* The Rivers of Hertfordshire.
* Wildlife.
* Other historical information.
* Miscellaneous magazine articles (approx 100).