Free Walks For Half-Term

Walks

fleet-pond-map

From Get Surrey:

Youngsters can explore the great outdoors by going on one of many countryside walks this autumn.

Why not take the whole family along and stop off for a pub lunch to make it a great day out.

We’ve compiled a list of popular child-friendly strolls across Surrey and north-east Hampshire.

The list, which gives 17 different locations, includes:

Fleet: 1km, 3km and 4km walks to choose from around the wildlife haven that is Fleet Pond off Cove Road, Fleet. Lunch stop: Heron on the Lake pub, Old Cove Road, Fleet, GU51 2RY.

Details of the three walks around Fleet Pond can be found here and are illustrated in the map above.

Fantastic FPS Feast In Fleet

Events, Fund Raising, People

2014-10-13 Feast, High Sheriff s

From left to right: Colin Gray (FPS Chairman), Terry Austin (FPS Deputy Chairman) and Jamie Balfour (High Sheriff of Hampshire).

As seen in the poster below, there was a fund-raising feast organised by Fleet Pond Society (FPS) held in the WE restaurant in Fleet last Monday.

Jim Storey, Committee Member of FPS, writes:

“And what a feast we had! Lots of lovely food served by very friendly staff. Jamie Balfour, the current High Sheriff of Hampshire joined us and shared some of his wide experiences with us. We had 130 members, friends, local business people, councillors and Lions join us for the dinner. And weren’t they generous too! Our guests bought lots of raffle tickets and weren’t disappointed with their winnings.

Sue Tilley, who organised the evening, had also been donated some very smart prizes by local businesses and restaurants. When we finished counting the money, we’d raised £1,750 from the evening. We’ll find some very worthwhile things to invest this in for the Pond.”

Many thanks to everyone who attended the meal for supporting FPS in it’s aim of helping maintain and improve Fleet Pond.

FPS Dinner WE

Volunteer Event This Sunday, 12 October

Conservation, Volunteering

David Pottinger writes:

There will be a volunteer event this Sunday, 12 October at Fleet Pond.

Why not come along for some fresh air and exercise, as well as having the nice feeling that you’re doing something really useful for the local community?

For further information and booking (which is essential as tools and resources have to be planned beforehand), please contact Hart Countryside Services:

Phone: 01252 623443

Email: countryside@hart.gov.uk

The schedule for the following Sunday volunteer events (up to the end of 2014) is

  • Sunday 2nd November (so as not to clash with Remembrance Sunday)
  • Sunday 14th December

The tasks are supervised by Rachel Jones of Hart Countryside Rangers together with members of Fleet Pond Society.

To get a flavour of activities, photos from previous events can be found here.

 

Recent Volunteer Activities At The Pond

Conservation, Volunteering

David Pottinger writes:

A wide variety of companies and volunteer groups visit Fleet Pond to carry out conservation activities. These tasks take place during the working week or on the weekend, depending on what is most practicable for the groups involved.

Although these activities make an important contribution to the upkeep of the Pond, they are not always well known to the general public. To give a flavour of these volunteer activities, here are some photos taken at events over the last month or so:

2014-09-27_Hedgehogs 1s

Mucky work is no problem for the Hedgehogs! 27-28 September

The volunteer group known as the ‘Hedgehogs’ (who have connections with Southampton University) are regular annual visitors (see photos above and below). See also a previous post from 2013.

2014-09-27_Hedgehogs 3s

Now it’s time to get cleaned up 🙂

In case you’re thinking of getting involved in the future, I hasten to add that volunteer tasks are typically very straightforward and not at all mucky!

2014-09-28_Hedgehogs 3s

Hedgehogs taking a well earned break: 27-28 September

2014-09-12_FPS Volunteers 2s

Installing a wooden seat at Boathouse Corner: 12 September

The above photo illustrates the work carried out on Friday mornings by the Last of the Summer Wine team (see here and also here).

2014-09-05_Southern Electric 1s

The enthusiastic team of volunteers from SSE: 5 September

The photos above and below provide examples of company events.

2014-08-29_Dimension Data 2s

Dimension Data pay a visit to help clear up one of the islands: 29 August

You can read about volunteer activities carried out by SSE and Dimension Data here and here respectively.

Local Photography Competitions And Fleet Pond

Photography

FPS 2013 - Liza Toth

Liza Toth’s winning entry for the 2013 FPS Competition

David Pottinger writes:

Here’s a reminder that Fleet Pond Society’s Photographic Competition for 2014 was launched in July and has a deadline of 5th January 2015. The theme for this year is ‘Fleeting Moments’.

The overall winning photo for the 2013 competition (with theme ‘Woods, Water & Wildlife’) was awarded to Liza Toth and is displayed above. A full set of winners for 2013 can be found here and, under Pictures, the results from previous years.

Why not give this year’s FPS competition a go?

Please note that there are two other local photographic competitions currently running (with earlier deadlines) where pictures of Fleet Pond would also be eligible:

Whichever ones you enter, we wish you the very best of luck!