A SPECIAL investigation into the historic weirs along the rivers Tamar, Tavy and Lynher is due to start next month.

There is currently no comprehensive record of the river management systems that were historically in place along the three main rivers in the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but the AONB team would like to change that.

With community help, the team would like to make a start by finding out where weirs and other structures are, and used to be, located.

Volunteers will be able to gain accreditation to enhance their CV while carrying out the research.

Sam Barnes, Helping Hands for Heritage project officer, said: 'The river heritage is of great importance to our AONB landscape, but there is so much that we just don't know.

'We'd like to use the information we discover to raise awareness of our river heritage and potentially work towards its protection and interpretation as part of the river experience.'

Join the AONB team on Wednesday, January 28, from 6pm to 8pm at the Tamar Valley Centre in Drakewalls for free training to enable you to access, read and draw information from historic maps to identify weirs and river structures, discover other sources of research to add to the map findings and provide your results to the AONB team in a simple report.

Volunteers will then work with the team to develop a plan for spring 2015 to prioritise sites for further research and survey.

Food and drink will be provided.

The AONB team would like potential volunteers to have an interest in the heritage of the Tamar Valley and some experience of archival and other research, including where to find sources and archives, would be desirable, but not essential. Full training and support will be given.

The research phase of the work will take place between February and April 2015.

If volunteers can spare some time within these dates to help gather information, the plan should be in place by the end of May 2015.

Becki Lumbis, education and community resource officer for the Tamar Valley AONB, said: 'By coming along to the training day and joining in with the subsequent research, you will receive AQA accreditation that can really make a difference to your CV and career path.

'More opportunities to earn accreditation in other topic areas will be coming up in the New Year — please do get in touch in the meantime to find out more and to register your interest.'

Volunteers will be able to choose an area or areas of the rivers to research. The team would like to be able to have full coverage of the extent of the rivers within the AONB, so the more volunteers they have, the better.

To sign up and add support contact the Tamar Valley AONB team on 01822 835030 or email [email protected]">[email protected]