As we go about our daily business, we are unaware of one of Bradford’s hidden assets just metres beneath our feet.

Gurgling away under roads and pavements, Bradford Beck makes its journey across the city centre unseen.

The beck – which rises in the hills to the west of the city and wends its way to the River Aire at Shipley – runs underground from Ingleby Road to its outfall in Canal Road.

Yet this often forgotten, long-neglected waterway, once dubbed the ‘filthiest river in Britain’, could help revitalise the city.

The Aire Rivers Trust is devising a management plan to improve the 11km beck, and has been overwhelmed by offers of help from keen volunteers.

The Bradford-based charity is working towards targets set by the European Water Framework Directive, which aims to clean up and help protect water courses, with a focus on ecology.

“Only a quarter of water courses in the UK have functioning eco systems, which is a shocking statistic,” says project manager, ecologist Michael Canning. “We live in a time of ecological decline and it is very important to take steps to reduce it.”

At the beginning of the 19th century, Bradford Beck was an open sewer. With the decline of heavy industry over the past 50 year, it has started to clean itself naturally, but there is a long way to go.

Volunteers are helping to take samples from the beck and its tributaries, including Horton Beck, Westbrook, Bowling Beck and Eastbrook. These will be analysed in a laboratory.

“We are looking at common pollutants such as nitrates, phosphates, organic compounds and metals, as well as more complex pollutants known as PAHs, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, which are particularly toxic,” says Michael The process of revilalising the beck is not straightforward due to its course having been heavily engineered over the past 200 years. “It has been straightened, built over and culverted,” says Michael. “Waterways have complex systems, and once you try to engineer a water channel you change many components, such as the speed of the water.”

Working in partnership with Bradford Council, the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water , the trust aims to create a catchment management plan. Key to this is greater involvement of the public. “People are very responsive to this – they are very keen to see the river come back to life,” says Michael.

A round of public consultations generated a good response, and further meetings are planned in November.

The beck is woven into the history of Bradford, the name being derived from the old English ‘brad’ and ‘ford’, the broad ford referring to a crossing of the beck at Church Bank below the site of Bradford Cathedral, around which a settlement grew in Saxon times.

In the 19th century the beck system was very polluted and was in a poor condition by the 1960s. Laws introduced since then have seen improvements but, says Michael, “there is still a long way to go to get the water quality to a ‘good’ ecological status.”

The first organised clean-up last month, by volunteers and specialist teams, involved litter removal and efforts to make the banks more attractive.

Fish are present. “Trout have been reported in the tributaries,” says Michael, “We are also getting reports of birds such as herons and kingfishers close to the River Aire.

“Regeneration of any kind of landscape starts with its ecology. Once that improves it becomes more functional.”

Yorkshire Water’s £20 million project to improve separation between the sewerage system and outflows around Bradford has had a beneficial impact. “And Bradford Council did a tremendous job creating Chellow Dene wetlands,” says Michael.

Project director Barney Lerner, a University of Sheffield professor of environmental engineering, whose work focuses on managing river catchments, lives close to the beck.

He says: “I would like to see the stretch from Shipley to Bradford de-engineered and restored to a more natural shape, with the ground cut back to remove it from the present canyon and give it more character and make it more wildlife-friendly. I’d like the pollution cleaned up and see a cycleway along the side.”

The stretch benefits from being within the Canal Road redevelopment, attracting investment.

Regeneration of the beck will impact upon the area in many ways.

Michael adds: “It is many-pronged – it improves economies and promotes feelings of wellbeing. The sound of water has a very powerful influence upon human beings.

“We are at the beginning of a process that will take decades to achieve, but everyone involved is so enthusiastic.”

For more details of the November consultations, contact Michael Canning on 07966 390407, or e-mail michael.canning@aireriverstrust.org.