Ouse Washes: The Heart of the Fens
Landscape Partnership scheme
(OWLP)
Image: Kite Aerial Photography by Bill Blake Heritage Documentation

OWLP: The area we cover
Left: 5 Districts covered by scheme
Right:
Topography
Images by
Sheils Flynn, for OWLP

OWLP: The area’s multiple layers of heritage
Images: Bill Blake Heritage Documentation; Cambridgeshire ACRE;
Cambridgeshire Archives; Valence House Museum; Pete Johnstone; flickriver.com; Norfolk Our World Ltd; RSPB

OWLP: The area’s multiple layers of heritage
Images: Bill Blake Heritage Documentation; Cambridgeshire ACRE;
Cambridgeshire Archives; Valence House Museum; Pete Johnstone; flickriver.com; Norfolk Our World Ltd; RSPB

What makes the OWLP area special?
Word cloud, showing what makes this area distinct and special

About Landscape Partnership schemes
• Overarching aim : to provide grants for the conservation and enjoyment of areas of distinctive landscape character throughout UK
Image: Patricia Kreyer

About Landscape Partnership schemes
• Partnership working : local, regional and national organisations with a range of interests in the area
• Portfolio of projects , each delivering multiple benefits
Images: Norfolk Our World Ltd; The Field Theatre Group Littleport;
Google images

About Landscape Partnership schemes
• Delivery across all 4 HLF Programmes
Conservation
Training
25
Projects
Community
Participation
Access & Learning

OWLP scheme: 26 Key Partners [+ Wider Forum]
Rosmini Centre
Diocese of Ely
Fen Skating
Association
Manea & Welney District
Drainage Commissioners
Fen Museum Partnership
Mike Petty
Cambridgeshire Association for Local History
Cambridge Archaeological Unit

OWLP: Where we are
2011/2012: stage 1 bid
2013:
Project
Development
March 2014:
Stage 2 bid granted
April 2014 –
March 2017:
Delivery

OWLP: Addressing the area’s needs
Key needs/issues identified:
• Divided management
• Lack of Tourism Promotion
• Low levels of Engagement
“A Mapp of ye Great Levell of ye Fenns extending into ye countyes of
Northampton, Norfolk, Suffolke, Lyncolne, Cambridge and Huntingdon and the Isle of Ely as it is now drained.’ By Jonas Moore. Plan of the Bedford
Level showing the principal drainage channels built by the Bedford
Corporation and the location of Adventurers’ land [c. 1700]. Courtesy of
Wisbech and Fenland Museum (© Cambridgeshire Archives).

OWLP: Addressing the area’s needs
• Divided management
 Strengthen Partnership Working - across all land use interests
Agriculture
Water
Management
OWLP
Landscape
Community &
Recreation
Conservation

OWLP: Addressing the area’s needs
• Divided management
 Strengthen Partnership Working – liaise with related partnership initiatives
Fens for the Future Partnership &
Great Ouse Wetland Vision.
Image by Sheils Flynn, for OWLP

OWLP: Addressing the area’s needs
• Divided management
• Lack of Tourism Promotion
 Promote Area as a Visitor Destination
Image: Kite Aerial
Photography by Bill Blake
Heritage Documentation

OWLP: Addressing the area’s needs
• Divided management
• Lack of Tourism Promotion
• Low levels of Engagement
 Leave a legacy of community engagement

OWLP scheme: Our Target Audiences
People who are uninspired by the landscape
Young people and families
&
Incomers and new communities
Heritage supporters
Farmers and land owners
Deprived communities
Migrant communities
Visitors

OWLP scheme: Our Themes
Water Everywhere
• Water defines the Ouse Washes landscape
Hidden heritage
• The heritage of the Ouse Washes landscape is largely unknown or ‘hidden’
Migration stories
• Movement and migration are key elements of the landscape
Famed Figures
• The landscape is full of fascinating stories about real and imaginary people
Future Heritage
• The future of the landscape is uncertain, with increasing demands on its resources

OWLP scheme: The partnership’s 25 Projects
Great Ouse Wetland Engagement
Barn Owl Recovery
Species Identification
& Monitoring
Community
Warden
Scheme
Ditch Management to the
East of the Ouse Washes
Image by Sheils Flynn, for OWLP
Wildlife Friendly
Farming in the Fens
Giving Nature a Home at Fen Drayton Lakes

OWLP scheme: The partnership’s 25 Projects
Image by Sheils Flynn, for OWLP
Improvements to
Denver Sluice
Complex
Ouse Washes
Community
Ouse
Archaeology
Community
Murals
Hidden Story Trails
Fen Folk, Legends and Heroes
Manea Community
Conservation Project
Migrant Links
Wind, Steam and
Diesel for the Ouse
Washes
Tales of Water,
Wildfowl and
Water
Skating around the Fens
Community Kite
Aerial
Photography

OWLP scheme: The partnership’s 25 Projects
Image by Sheils Flynn, for OWLP
Opening up the Ouse
Washes to All
Ouse Washes Festival
Fortnight
Ouse Washes
Annual Conference
Managing the Ouse
Washes in the Future
Ouse Washes
Tourism Promotion
Community
Heritage Fund –
Small Grants
Ouse Washes
Volunteer Training &
Marketplace

Find out more:
Blog : http://ousewasheslps.wordpress.com/
@ousewasheslp
Dedicated OWLP website: July 2014
Or contact the OWLP Programme Manager: mark.nokkert@cambsacre.org.uk
Tel 01353 865030