Not Bourne Yesterday: Chalk Stream Communities of the Chilterns
Not Bourne Yesterday will reconnect and restore Chilterns chalk streams, not only to their landscapes, but, crucially, to the communities that live beside them.
Made possible by a £350,000 investment from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Not Bourne Yesterday aims to reconnect communities with their local chalk streams, restoring both the rivers and landscapes they flow through. By nurturing a personal connection with these living waterways, Not Bourne Yesterday will build stronger relationships between people and their chalk streams, at a time when the rivers most need champions and people most need the wellbeing that being near water can bring.
Not Bourne Yesterday is currently in an 18-month Development Phase until September 2026. If our second round bid is successful, the Delivery Phase of the programme will be delivered over five years, with an anticipated completion in 2031.
Together with partners and volunteers, the programme will tell the 8,000 year-old story of these rivers with the everyday lives of the people – past, present and future – who live alongside them.
Past
Chalk streams have been the focus of human activity and modification for millennia. The chalk stream valleys of the Chilterns are archaeological features in their own right, modified by humans for over 8,000 years. Connecting people with their place increases their desire to care for and protect.
Present
Today, more than ever, young people are seeking to make a difference, but it can be hard for many to find avenues into conservation or engagement with the natural world. Not Bourne Yesterday will work in partnership with organisations and local communities to support diverse audiences in engaging with, caring for, and learning to value their chalk streams.
Future
A legacy of bringing communities into closer engagement with their chalk streams will be the long-term rehabilitation of these fragmented and degraded ecosystems. Drawing on what is discovered in the other aspects of the programme, we will aim to make rivers more resilient, restore habitats, enhance urban spaces, and make the natural environment more robust in the face of climate crisis.
Not Bourne Yesterday outcomes:
- Ensure positive environmental outcomes for chalk streams through developing restoration projects that will create more natural streams that are reconnected the landscape around them.
- Improve accessibility to the streams and encourage broad participation and enjoyment of nature, as well as provide activities that will support mental health.
- Run a series of pilot events in local communities, designed to bring the natural and cultural heritage of chalk streams to life.
- Engage audiences with chalk streams through co-creation activities.
- Improve and discover knowledge of the heritage and history of chalk streams in the Chilterns.
- Create exciting volunteer opportunities so current and new audiences can engage with and learn about chalk streams.
- Create employment opportunities for young people to gain access to a career in conservation.
Meet the team
Fran Crowther
Role: Not Bourne Yesterday Development Manager
Martha Glennon
Role: Engagement Coordinator (Not Bourne Yesterday)
Not Bourne Yesterday: Fran Crowther (left), Martha Glennon (right).
Development Manager – Fran Crowther
Fran started working at the Chilterns National Landscape in 2022 as a Project Support Officer. She moved on to the Chalk, Cherries and Chairs Landscape Partnership until its completion in 2024. She has recently finished her Master’s with the University of Edinburgh, which involved creating a conservation enterprise strategy for a women-led textile initiative based in Bolivia. Fran is excited to develop Not Bourne Yesterday and work with other organisations in the Chilterns to protect and promote our precious chalk streams.
Engagement Coordinator – Martha Glennon
Martha recently finished her Master’s with the University of Oxford in Nature, Society and Environmental Governance, writing her thesis on the Indus-river dolphin, an endemic species to Pakistan. She is an enthusiastic naturalist and birdwatcher, and can often be seen out with her binoculars in the Chilterns. She has lived alongside chalk streams since her childhood, and looks forward to developing Not Bourne Yesterday and spending time in such biodiverse and beautiful ecosystems.
National Lottery Heritage Fund grant applications over £250,000 are assessed in two rounds. Not Bourne Yesterday has been granted round one development funding of (£351,083) by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, allowing it to progress with its plans. Detailed proposals for delivering the project are then considered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund at second round, where a final decision is made on the full funding sought (£2.84m).
Not Bourne Yesterday is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund is currently being developed until May 2026, after which the Chilterns National Landscape will apply for the full grant to enable to project to be delivered. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to allow us to develop this programme.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund is the largest funder for the UK’s heritage. Using money raised by National Lottery players we support projects that connect people and communities to heritage. Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. From historic buildings, our industrial legacy and the natural environment, to collections, traditions, stories and more. 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.
In partnership with:
