Fujitsu Volunteers Lend A Hand At The Pond

Conservation, Volunteering

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The Fujitsu team at Fleet Pond

Rachel Jones, Hart Countryside Ranger, writes:

“A group of Fujitsu employees came out for their annual team day to Fleet Pond on Monday 20 January. They helped us clear pine saplings off the heath, an important part of the conservation work there.

Wood Lane heath is a ‘wet heath’ that was designated a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation because of its heathland vegetation and it’s notable species.

Lowland heathland is classed as a priority habitat under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). Fleet Pond Local Nature Reserve/SSSI has small areas of this habitat that has nationally suffered great decline in the last 200 years.

As well as a specific grazing regime, work by volunteers is needed to keep control of the pine tree saplings that threaten to take over the heath from the surrounding woodland.

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A beautifully clear start to the day (if a little cold)

The photographs show the start of the morning which was beautiful but cold! Before everyone headed off for lunch, enormous progress was made clearing the majority of the saplings.

Thank you to the team, and their leader Carol Dunford, for all the good work carried out. Most of the volunteers had not been to the area before and travelled from London and Ealing, oh and Kings Road, Fleet!”

Sunday 12 January – Clearing Up For The Viewpoint

Conservation, Volunteering

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Clearing out the scrub, with the pond in the background

David Pottinger writes:

Here are some photos from the very popular volunteer event that took place on Sunday 12 January, over 35 volunteers were present!

As explained in a previous post, Natural England has approved the construction of the new viewing platform on the eastern side of Fleet Pond and the task for Sunday was to clear scrub and saplings from the construction site and any that would interfere with the view over the reeds.

As you can imagine, with such a large team an enormous amount of work can get done in a relatively short period of time (one morning). So these conservation tasks really do make a big impact on the general upkeep of the Pond. The following photos show some typical activities:

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The larger items of wood were gathered together to form a habitat for insects

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Felling trees, hard hats required!

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Hopefully these photos give a good feel for the sort of work carried out in our regular Sunday volunteer sessions. A collection of photos from a wide variety of volunteer events in 2013 can also be found here.

If you would like to join us in our conservation activities, please contact Rachel Jones for further information and booking – contact details here.

Photo credits: the top two and bottom photos are courtesy of Kim Byrne, with the others kindly provided by Rachel Jones and Colin Gray.

A Welcome To Our Corporate Members

Fund Raising

The following organisations give valuable support to Fleet Pond and the work of Fleet Pond Society by their Corporate Membership:

Dimension Data United Kingdom

2 Waterfront Business Park,
Fleet Road, Fleet, Hampshire,
GU51 3QT, United Kingdom.

Founded in 1983, Dimension Data plc is an ICT services and solutions provider that uses its technology expertise, global service delivery capability, and entrepreneurial spirit to accelerate the business ambitions of its clients. Dimension Data is a member of the NTT Group.

www.dimensiondata.com

The Logic Group Holdings Ltd.

Logic House
Waterfront Business Park
Fleet, Hampshire
GU51 3SB, United Kingdom.

The Logic Group

Top brands in consumer focused industries rely on The Logic Group to help them deliver enhanced customer interactions experiences for their customers. With over 25 years’ experience, we are a trusted partner to card acquirers and schemes, alternative payments services, mobile network operators, systems integrators, regulatory industry bodies and many prominent high-street brands.

With over 50% of the UK’s top retailers, telecommunications companies and insurance groups benefiting from The Logic Group solutions, we process in excess of 35% of the UK’s card transactions and manage over 20 million loyalty scheme members for our clients.

At The Logic Group we are committed to taking responsibility for our position within the community and managing our business to provide a positive impact on society – read more about our Corporate Social Responsibility.

www.the-logic-group.com

Fascinating Photos From A Hundred Years Ago

History

AB1910s View NW3

In a previous post, we described some of the surprising history linked to the eastern side of Fleet Pond. Here are some interesting postcard images of this area taken during the same period. In the above picture, you can see a large jetty, which has obviously deteriorated as it is in two parts.

A1904 RAE jetty 2

A second picture of the jetty (dated 1904)

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Another view of the eastern side

Colin Gray, who provided the pictures above and the map below, writes:

“Below is a map of the pond dated 1909.

You can just make out Kenilworth and Westover Roads leading down to the pond and showing the extent of the open water in that direction. It also shows The Flash which was infilled in 1976 for the building of the industrial estate, now the Waterfront Business Park.

The pond level was lowered by 33cm in 1969 to ensure the industrial estate did not flood. It was also in response to an incident when the outflow through the Flow Arch was blocked, causing back-up of water which threatened to flood neighbouring roads.

The then owner of the small pond had installed a netting grill across his end of the culvert so he could stock the small pond with Bream. This gathered a lot of debris, blocking the culvert. The netting was removed by council order and the Bream moved in to the main pond.”

A1909 Map detail

A map of Fleet Pond (dated 1909)

It’s interesting to compare the above map with an aerial view of the Pond taken from Google Maps (which also shows the new islands) – see here.

GoogleMaps Fleet Pond Islands 2013

Fleet Pond from the air (taken from Google Maps)

Credits: the pictures from the early 1900s are scans of postcards kindly loaned to FPS by Mr J Boulter of Fleet.

Volunteer Event This Sunday – 12 Jan 2014

Conservation, Volunteering

Colin Gray, Chairman of FPS, writes:

“Rachel Jones and I made a quick tour of the Pond earlier this week to look at the numerous impacts of the recent gales and excess of rain and decide on this Sunday’s task.

Natural England has approved the construction of the new viewing platform on the eastern side of Fleet Pond. Our task will be to clear scrub and saplings from the construction site and any that would interfere with the view over the reeds.

It is very wet at and around the embankment on which the viewing platform will be built so wellington boots are essential if you possess a pair. We have only a limited supply to loan so if you possess wellies, please bring them along.

There is also quite a lot of bramble around so be prepared to trip over strands or tear clothing on the runners!

Rachel has insisted we supply baked potatoes (if we can get a good fire started) which should be an added incentive for you?

Please let Rachel know if you are going to join us (contact details here) so we can ensure there are enough potatoes to go round. If you come by car please park in Kenilworth Road as there is very limited space to park a car at the Workshop.

If all goes to plan we will  be installing the viewing platform in the week beginning 24th February and with the approach ramp will probably take about 3 days to build.

If you have spare hours during the working week that you could spare to help us in this task, please let me know.

With fingers crossed for a reasonably dry Sunday, I hope to see you there.”

Ed. Please see here and here for additional information.