Starting the month with a day of swim intro sessions on 3 August, @OSBrecks then ran a swim walk, a swim cycle, and three guided walks celebrating the rivers and their history, as part of the BFER Brecks Outdoor Festival 9-24 August 2025.

Information from our oral history interviews and from local historians in Radio 4 Programme, Open Country – brief mention of how people historically used Thompson Common.

Report of these events now on this Update post. OSBrecks ran several events in the BFER Brecks Outdoor Festival 9-24 August 2025, including swim intros, swim walk, swim cycle, and river history walks. The full programme includes these and many more outdoor activities in the Brecks.

The latest illustrated talk – when I shared stories and images of river recreation and industry collected in the project – was Thursday 1 May at Mildenhall and District Museum Society, with others to follow later in the year. Slides and notes are available to download.

Two Brandon display panels officially opened by the Mayor and Town keeper.

More guided river history walks to come, with the extended funding for BFER. First event was a family friendly short walk in Brandon on Thursday 10 April 2025 – read a short report. Later this year the Brecks Outdoor Festival 9-24 August will be packed with events, including several by @OSBrecks volunteers.

The oral history interviews, audio files/SoundCloud links and links to download transcripts, are being added to the website during early 2025. The latest interviewee is now 100!

Over 100 people involved in or that had run the 24 projects of The Brecks Fen Edge and Rivers Landscape Partnership Scheme over the last five years came to celebrate and hear about the achievements and impact at the End of BFER Scheme Conference 30 January 2025.

Six panels across the Brecks tell the stories of that place – how people enjoyed themselves, where they worked and how the rivers were used for trade, and about the wildlife and more.

Tales from the River talk: memories of recreation in Brecks rivers and fen edge.