Celebrating a year at Rickmansworth Aquadrome

In January 2024, Three Rivers District Council received a £161,691 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver a 10-month long project at the Aquadrome, looking specifically at recovery and resilience.

This involved undertaking a series of ecology surveys, a complex hydrological study to better understand how water flows at the site and an extensive programme of community activity engagement during the school holidays. The funding marked the start of the larger Aquadrome Project to conserve, enhance and protect the local nature reserve.

Almost a year on, the council is celebrating the ‘Identify, Inform, Involve’ - Natural Heritage Networks project successes and sharing the baseline knowledge captured with the local community, who truly value this local nature reserve.

The results so far have been fascinating, including the discovery of 13 invertebrate species that hold a national status and confirming the presence of habitats of principle importance, such as wet woodlands, rivers, chalk stream and hedgerows. These habitats were found to be invaluable to many species of bats, some believed to be roosting or have maternity colonies using the site.

The council also welcomed 150 people of all ages to attend creative, nature and wellbeing-based activities through the spring and summer months, where they learned more about the social or natural heritage of the site.

More than 300 hours of volunteer time were dedicated by children from a local primary school, work experience and university placement students and specialist training in various fields was given to staff working on the project.

Whilst remaining true to the Aquadrome’s character and natural surroundings, the creation of a Communications Plan, Branding Guidelines and a Site Narrative have also helped to establish a much-needed identity and voice for this special site, helping the council to better tell its story.

Cllr Chris Lloyd, Lead Member for Leisure, said: “The vital information that has been gathered as part of this project will enable future work to be fully informed and any decisions correctly made by the team. We are progressing closer to better understanding, preserving and cherishing the Aquadrome for future generations, where this has not previously been possible.”

Other exciting plans for early 2025 in the Aquadrome include the replacement pedestrian bridge off Riverside Drive, the enhancement of Ebury Play area and the refurbishment work to the fishing areas around Batchworth lake.

The council will also be submitting a larger application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund, for the next Development stage of the project.

To keep up to date with the Rickmansworth Aquadrome project, please click here.

The Natural Heritage Networks project has been generously funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which distributes a share of National Lottery funding to support a wide range of heritage projects across the UK, including the Rickmansworth Aquadrome.

Notes for Editors

About The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past. Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6 billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities. 

heritagefund.org.uk

Follow @HeritageFundUK on Twitter/X, Facebook and Instagram and use #NationalLottery #HeritageFund