Costa Beck Update

Oxfolds and Costa Becks are fed from the Keldhead. This spring fed water ensures a fairly regular temp of about 10deg C all year round. This is the equivalent of the southern chalk streams.

in 1879 the Costa Anglers Club was 'reorganised' so it actually predated that time. We know this because in 1953 Capt Arthur Oglesby had heard that the PFA was interested in taking some of the fishing in hand. The CAC had been disolved in the 1940's.

He and PFA Secretary, Cliff Hardy, met whereupon the Captain gave Cliff the original minute book pictured on the left.

On the right are the first pages calling for a committee to reorganise the costa Anglers Club.

Rev.J.R.Hill acting as President was at the time the owner of Thornton Estates which included Dalby Forest.

A letter from Capt.Oglesby also warns of the issues the CAC had with R.Fluitans a weed that is not native to the Costa. He went on to declare that it was in 1928 that Dr.Thos.Sanctuary attempted to introduce Blue Winged Olives into the costa to "encourage the trout to look up", and in so doing he had brought the larvae from Hampshire on the Ranunculus.

Alas the weed flourished better than the BWO's.

The photo on the left is believed to be that of Dr.Thos.Sanctuary.

He was a good friend of both Halford and Marryat and is known for his pattern the Sanctuary fly.

According to the PFA's 1901 AGM Minutes Sanctuary was also a Member Pickering Fishery Association.

The text on the right is of a CAC meeting in 1899 whereupon those present discussed whether to have a subscription raised to afford to stock with Lock Leven Trout.

It was mentioned that a 9.75lb brown trout had been caught!

So despite all the efforts nowadays to protect the Wild Brown Trout strains it appears that the club went ahead with stocking Loch Leven fingerlings.

In 2021, 2022 and 2023 a 5lb trout was caught in Oxfolds.

It is thought that the constant temperature enabled greater invertebrate populations, eg Gammerus, which when coupled with the Lock Leven strain produced these monster trout for such a small beck.

The text on the Left is of a PFA meeting in March 1955, confirming that the Secretary and President had successful metings with Landowners with a view to the PFA taking on fishing on the costa.

The photograph on the right is of an EA weedboat at the Costa Beck by "the copse".

You will see the weed growth has been so great that the beck is now full of water instead of being several feet lower.

Remember that this is a springfed back and this water is backing up due to weed as there is no significant increase in flows due to rainfall.
The weedgrowth is further enabled by the increased nutrients in teh beck from teh sewage outfall and the discharge fromm the trout farms and Middleton drain.

Thanks to Peter Carty of the ACA (now Fish Legal) the PFA were paid the £8k copensation.
This was banked whereas it should have been used to go toward restoring the bed where it the gravels that had been dredged.

This image shows the dredgings that were the cause of an Anglers Conservation Assoc'n case fought by Peter Carty who won the club £8k in an out of court settlement. Sadly for the club the officers of the day did not insist the gravels be replced. Those spoils were then simply ploughed into the field.

The bed remians dredged, over deep and flow is such that silt frops out, feed the weed growth and the vicious cycle begins again.

The Ranunculus needs removing and the bed slope needs to be recreated.

This image shows the extent of dredging and identifies some of the point sources of pollution too

The dispute with the EA and polluters has been ongoing for many years.

In 2021 a reinvigorated effort began resuting in a Judicial Review being granted in July 2023.

In November 2023 the Ruling was handed down in the PFA's favour. The Secretary of State for EFRA was found to have broken teh law when signing the RBMP (River Basin Management Plan).

In January 2024 te Secretary of State's Barristers requested the right to an Appeal which was duly granted but the request to stay the court Order was refused.

The RBMP had to be revisited but this time it had to consider the review of environment objectives as per the WFD (Water Framework Directive) at water body level for the UCB (Upper costa Waterbody).

This was a major win for all waterbodies and we believe the Pickering Fishery case is now being considered as caselaw in Germany, Italy, spain and perhaps soon to be in France too.

Download the JR1 Ruling

Download the JR1 Court Order

Download the Appeal Court Ruling

Download the JR2 Consent Order

In short Pickering Fishery Association via Fish Legal successfully took the SoS EFRA (Secretary of State) to a Judicial Review in the Royal Courts of Justice in Jul 2023.

In November 2023 Justice Lievens Ruled in our favour.
In Jan 2024 the Court Order was sealed and the SoS requested an Appeal.
In Sept 2024 Fish Legal challenged the SoS again and requested a second JR (JR2) but it was stayed until after the appeal.
The Appeal was heard in Jan 2025 and the OEP intervened in writing supporting Dame Lievens original Nov 2023 ruling for JR1.
In April 2025 the Appeal by the Secretary of State was lost, the PFA had won again.
14 May 2025 the SoS then filed a letter of acknowledgement stating he would not contest JR2.
June 2025 Consent Form submitted to the court (agreed between Barristers of both parties)
18th December the consent order in respect of the uncontested JR2 was sealed.
7th Jan 2026 The EA Area Manager for Yorkshire declared his team are working hard to ready a new RBMP to put out for submission.

Further Information and other links will be added as they become available