The River Wensum is a chalk fed Norfolk river and a tributary of the River Yare despite it being the larger of the two rivers. The river is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Area of Conservation (SAC) 

The source of the Wensum rises from springs above the village of Raynham in north-west Norfolk and is joined by numerous small tributaries. Flowing westward at first, the river then turns and flows north through a number of small villages until it reaches Sculthorpe where it turns east through the market town of Fakenham before flowing in a south-easterly direction through Swanton Morley, Lyng, Lenwade and Taverham, entering the City of Norwich from the north-west via Drayton, Costessey and Hellesdon. At New Mills Yard the river becomes tidal and navigable by boat before flowing through the city and merging with the River Yare.

Prior to the 1970s the Wensum was nationally renowned as a roach fishery with many fish over 2lb being caught including some huge specimens exceeding 3 pounds. The river record weighed a massive 3lb10oz. As the river declined through the effects of cormorant predation, water abstraction, dredging and modern farming methods these fish gradually died out. Today the river’s roach stocks are a shadow of their former glory with few fish ever surviving predation long enough to reach specimen proportions. 

After an earlier introduction of a small number of Barbel, the local river authority stocked the Wensum with over 150 fish in 1971 below Costessey Mill. Barbel are not officially considered indigenous to the Wensum although there is some dispute about this. Whatever the facts, their presence boosted the rivers fame and brought economic value to its struggling fisheries. Twenty years after the original stockings, NACA stocked large numbers of juvenile barbel at Lyng as part of their Sayers Meadow Project. These fish became established at Lyng and spread downstream into numerous other favourable locations, the largest of which grew to massive weights in excess of 20 lbs. Unfortunately, as a result of poor fry-recruitment and unsustainable levels of predation from newly released captive bred otters, very few barbel exist in the river today.

In the Wensum’s uppermost reaches there are a few successfully managed trout fisheries, but today the most prevalent species are chub. While this is  another non-indigenous species, without it the Wensum’s fishery would be in a dire condition. 

Much of the Wensum's upper reaches are privately owned or controlled by clubs and syndicates, though there are a few free fishing spots here and there. Downstream of Hellesdon Mill and throughout Norwich, the fishing is free wherever the banks are publicly accessible.

Anglers have been complaining about the declining condition of fish stocks in the Wensum since the early 1980s. After many years of decline a survey was commissioned by Natural England in 2002 that showed that the principal reasons for this decline were water quality and siltation. Water quality has been addressed and is improving, but the physical character of the river needs to be restored. The 2002 report found that fourteen redundant water mills along the Wensum were adversely affecting on the morphology of the river channel, with 67% of the river backed up behind these structures. As a priority, a strategy to redress this problem recommended the lowering, removal or bypassing of these structures to allow more of the river to function naturally. 

To bring this up to the present date, all the old problems still seem to exist to a greater or lesser extent. In addition, we have now identified issues with invasive alien Signal Crayfish; cormorants, otters, and there are potentially a raft of as yet unclarified factors such as nicoteinoids from pesticides,  unidentified water-borne pollutants which may include such things as residue from the contraceptive pill and statins etc flushed through sewage plants and who knows what else

Norfolk Anglers Conservation Association started work on a largely successful river habitat restoration at the Sayers Meadow fishery at Lyng in the early 1980s, which was intended to be used as a blueprint for future river conservation projects. Later, after the detrimental effect on the river downstream of Taverham, caused by a major abstraction pipeline, the association also took action to restore this well known stretch of river known as Costessey Point. As a point of interest, just this year, on the back of evidence relating to Flow Durations on the river, it appears that the abstraction point is to be moved back downstream to the Waterworks Road site. This should further improve things at Costessey.

Since 2008, several small improvements to the river have been made but due to the Government’s austerity cut-backs, little progress has been made. While a holistic whole river approach was envisaged with co-operation from land owners, fisheries managers and other organisations, progress has been slow. Other than a few projects such as pressure washing silt off the gravel glides in a effort to improve their condition, construction of fry refuges and silt traps etc, the main progress has been with two large River Wensum Restoration Scheme meander loop re-connections, at Fakenham and Sennowe. This is still only a tiny fraction of what needs to be addressed.

Nowadays,  Wensum Anglers Conservation Association has picked up the reins. As a natural successor to NACA, which has now been dissolved, we are running the former NACA-Sayers group of Fisheries at Lyng, and plan to seamlessly continue existing projects on our own two sections of the Wensum. These include further planting of bankside alders, constructing more fry refuges and installing more large woody debris features. A historical project aimed at improving the roach stocks is also to be revisited, and we are negotiating a rolling five-year river maintenance plan with Natural England. In all this our landlord has been tirelessly supportive, and is working alongside us on many of the projects in the field.

In addition, we are planning to join forces with the Wensum Working Group, which is currently moving to become part of the Broads Angling Services Group CIC. This should enable it to become more of a delivery agent for habitat work etc. Thus in a small way we hope to be contributing to the improvement of the riverine environment beyond our own holdings.