For many years now the riverbed bank and islands near the mill have remained undisturbed. This has meant that wildlife, both water- and land-based, have been allowed to create their own unique ecology with a healthy biodiversity. The slackwater is a safe breeding ground for a wide variety of species including extensive freshwater musselbeds and fish fry, which provide a food source for all manner of
Wind in the Willows characters, all thriving on the neglect. Des O'Sullivan, a local amateur naturalist, wrote a wonderful article about this in our Spring 2009 newsletter, and in this issue he takes the matter a step further in his presentation of the bio-riches of the Taolow Reaches where he and Heather Fenn are leading the fight, with the Society's full support, to get some serious protection for that site.
We have to be alert to the serious risk facing this vulnerable area by possible unsympathetic development.
