Category Archives: Events

Volunteer Event This Sunday, 8 January

Conservation, Events, Volunteering

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There will be a volunteer event at Fleet Pond this coming Sunday and all are welcome to attend (see below for registering). As a taster, pictures from previous events are given above and below.

Colin Gray, Chairman of Fleet Pond Society, writes:

“We start 2017 with a task to widen the corridor between Wood Lane Heath and Fugelmere Marsh with some thinning of Bog Myrtle bushes and removal of birch seedlings and saplings. This will be a rather wet task as recent rain has made the soil even soggier in this low lying zone between two moist habitats. I highly recommend wellington boots. We can loan a pair if you do not have your own but our range of sizes is a bit limited.”

For further information and booking for this event (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 Sunday volunteer tasks are supervised by a Hart Countryside Ranger, Nick Macfarlane, together with members of Fleet Pond Society.

A full listing of the Sunday volunteer events for the 2016/17 season can be found here. Why not give it a go?

2015-02-08 Sunday Vols 2s

Season’s Greetings To All Our Readers

Events
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David Pottinger writes:

Many thanks for the interest you’ve shown in Fleet Pond Blog this year. We’ve been fortunate in having had over 164,000 visits since it started in July 2008!

We’ve lots of ideas for posts for 2017 that we hope you’ll find interesting, so please stay tuned. Also, if you have any requests for topics, we’d be very happy to hear from you…

Until then, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Fleet Half Marathon Supports Fleet Pond

Events, Fund Raising, People
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41Y1c8E-LRY&w=560&h=315]

YouTube Video of Fleet Half Marathon 2016 (from MikeSpectrum)

David Pottinger writes:

The famous Brooks Fleet Pre-London Half Marathon will take place on Sunday 19th March 2017, starting at 10:30.

Why not put watching this event into your diary, it’s very impressive and has a great atmosphere!

Full details can be found on their website here, which advertises Fleet Pond Society (FPS) as the nominated local charity for 2017:

New for 2017:
  • Revised course – faster, flatter final 2 miles
  • New local charity – Fleet Pond Society – helping to support the natural environment in Fleet. Run for them and make a difference.
  • Brooks event t-shirt available to buy when you enter the race.
  • Medal, re-useable kitbag and other gift for all finishers.
  • More toilets within the park following runner feedback.
  • New race partner ‘Everyone Active’ the management company of the new Hart Leisure Centre opening March 2017.

 Five runners have already volunteered to run for FPS:

  • Dan Franklin
  • Imogen Sutherland
  • Lauren Saxby
  • Shane England
  • James Wicks

and we all wish them well in their preparations for the demanding event next year.

We also have 5 free places left – why not run for Fleet Pond? If you are interested please drop a line to our Chairman, Colin Gray at chairman@fleetpond.org.uk or phone 01252 616183.

We will publish further details nearer the time, including relevant charity giving pages.

FPS will be providing several stewards for the race and will also have a gazebo at the finish at Calthorpe Park Race Village. Please call by on the day if you’d like some information on how FPS benefits the local community.

FPS have been involved with this event previously. In 2015, two runners from Mackenzie Smith Estate Agency, Roxanne Lewington and Tara Skinner, raised £559 for the Pond by participating in the Half Marathon, see here and picture below.

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From L to R: Colin Gray of FPS with Roxanne Lewington, Tara Skinner and Graham Tufnell of Mackenzie Smith

News and Activities at Fleet Pond (Update 1)

Conservation, Education, Events, Fund Raising, Photography, Volunteering

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A screenshot of the current home page of the FPS web site

David Pottinger writes:

Different people like getting their information in different ways. At Fleet Pond Society we have set up a variety of ways which hopefully cater for most tastes and which give a wide selection of snippets, photos and articles.

Here they are and as a comparison I also give the numbers (which can vary daily of course) from a similar post I wrote in April this year:

In addition, FPS regularly submits articles for publication in local newspapers, such as Surrey Hants Star Courier and Fleet News & Mail.

Happy reading 🙂

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Elvetham Heath Primary School and FPS

Education, Events, Plants and Animals, Volunteering

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Click to enlarge

Colin Gray, Chairman of Fleet Pond Society (FPS), writes:

“Sharyn Wheale, the Hart Council representative on the FPS Committee, is a Governor of the Elvetham Heath Primary School and she asked us if we could help restore the school pond. Terry Austin and Colin Gray did an initial assessment of the pond which was in a very neglected and overgrown condition. They invited parents, teachers and children to come to the school on 18th September 2016 to clear all the vegetation in preparation for a small digger to be used to re-profile the pond. A good turn-out ensured a lot was achieved!

ehps-pond-digger

The digger (see above) worked on 26th October, during half term so as not to endanger inquisitive youngsters with heavy machinery. It was discovered that there was an concrete base under all the accumulated mud. This complicated matters as the supports for a new pond dipping platform could not be driven into concrete. A scaffolding frame was built instead and the new platform fixed to the frame.   

The next phase will be to fill the new pond and put back all the invertebrate life we rescued from the old pond and plant lots of new aquatic and marginal plants. All the labour was supplied by Fleet Pond Society’s Last of the Summer Wine volunteers. A lot of volunteer time and effort went into a much bigger task than any had anticipated. However the team were very pleased at the result but declared never again to take on quite such a large task!”

We will keep you informed of progress on this very challenging task!

If you would like to support FPS in the many voluntary tasks we carry out each year, please consider donating or joining (just £10 a year).