David Pottinger writes:

Here’s a selection of photos from the blog that were published in 2012. There were many good ones, the choice wasn’t easy!

It gives an overview of some of the the many activities, carried out in close collaboration with Hart Countryside Services, that Fleet Pond Society are active in. As you can see, it’s not all hard work, there’s fun too!

If you’d like to support our voluntary activities, please consider becoming a member – we’re always keen on new ones. Joining information is here.

The lighthearted title of each picture links to the original post. Enjoy 🙂

Making History (January)

A Winning Smile (February)

How To Surprise A Squirrel (February)

Something Strange in The Pond (March)

Jubilant Scouts And Guides (March)

The Boat And Her Crew (June)

A Close Shave For The Pond (June)

Look What I’ve Found (July)

Cycling To Work Via The Scenic Route (July)

It’s All Gone Up In Smoke! (November)

Tern For The Good (December)

Michelle Salter writes:

New benches, made from recycled plastic bags, had been donated to the Pond, with two earmarked for use at Kenilworth Viewpoint. This is a beautiful spot, which offers a wonderful view of the pond before the footpath takes you off into woodland. We wanted to install the benches at the earliest opportunity, so visitors could enjoy them during the summer months, but lacked the manpower – until Fleet Lions came to our rescue.

Jim Storey, Lions President, rounded up the troops and soon had a team willing to give up their Sunday morning lie-in and take on the task. A few of us did a recce of the site a couple of days beforehand and found the Rangers had already dumped a large pile of gravel for our use and outlined the proposed path edge and position of the seats. As well as assembling and installing the benches, we discovered we also needed to raise the level of the ground around the seating area and of the path leading down to it, making it suitable for prams and wheelchairs.

This was going to be quite a task, so we roped in a few volunteers from our regular conservation volunteer work party to lend a hand.

Ten of us met up at the workshop on the morning of Sunday 19th April and loaded up the tractor with all the parts needed to assemble the benches. On site, there was much scratching of heads as we tried to figure out the instructions. The benches didn’t need anchors as they were already part of the assembly (there is a T-shape on the lower end of the legs that is sunk into the soil), but a very deep hole was needed to make them secure.

We divided into two teams, with one half figuring out where all the nuts and bolts went and the other half on hole-digging duties. Once the benches were sunk into the ground more gravel was needed to level the area around them and raise the height of the access path. After many trips in the tractor to and from the workshop to obtain more rubble, and much shovelling of gravel into and out of the trailer, we eventually managed to create an even surface. Some flattening out with the manual and motorised tampers was needed to smooth out the ground before we were finally able to stand back and admire our handy work.

It was gratifying to receive appreciative comments from visitors to the pond that day, many of whom took the time to stop and thank us for the work we were doing. We hope that many more visitors will now stop to rest their feet at the Kenilworth Viewpoint and enjoy the scenery.

Read further details in the Star Courier, dated Thursday 30^th April 2009.

Photo credits: Before and After: Michelle Salter and Group Photo: Vicki Jull.

Michelle Salter, Secretary of Fleet Pond Society, writes:

Fleet Pond Society looks forward to seeing members at the Annual General Meeting.

Saturday 21st February 2009
7.15 to 7.30 pm start
SS Philip’s & James’ Chuch Hall, Kings Road, Fleet

This is an opportunity to meet the Committee and other society members to find out what’s been happening at the pond in the past year and what may be in store for the future.

First up is the presentation of prizes to the Under 16 category of the Photographic Competition (so our younger members don’t have to sit through the official business of the evening).

This is followed by a review of the minutes from the last AGM and any matters arising from these minutes. This is a very informal event and members are welcome to put questions to the Committee and join in the discussions.

Colin Gray, Chairman of Fleet Pond Society, will update the society on the events and developments that have taken place at the pond over the last year, and report on any ongoing plans. Colin is always happy to answer questions and receive comments from those attending. The future of the pond depends on our members support.

The Treasurer’s Report, the Election of Officers and other Committee Members, and Any Other Business follows – then that’s the official society business over for the night.

After a short break for refreshments, we announce the Winners of the 2008 Photographic Competition. It’s always inspiring to see the diverse and imaginative interpretations of the category titles; I’m sure the 2008 themes of Shoots and Leaves, Reflections and Shadows, and Quiet Corners will be no exception.

All entries received for the 2008 Photographic Competition will be on display throughout the evening, and I can assure you that there is always a wonderful selection of scenes taken from every conceivable corner of Fleet Pond Nature Reserve.

I look forward to seeing you there.

The Pond Needs You

Fleet Pond Society is made up of people from all walks of life. Some of our members donate their time as well as their money. Conserving the pond involves a great many tasks including dipwell measuring, gauge reading, party planning, walk organising, letter delivering, litter-picking, account auditing, minute taking, newsletter editing, blog posting… and of course our merry band of conservation volunteers, who regularly chop, saw, burn, dig, erect and demolish.

If you feel you could contribute in any way, we’d love to hear from you.

We are currently looking for volunteers to help with funding research.

Funding Researchers

The Restoration of Fleet Pond

A report into the restoration of Fleet Pond gave a figure of £3Million in order to remove the silt from the pond and improve the condition of the reserve as a whole. Whilst raising this figure may be way out of our reach, the report has listed smaller, more achievable projects. There are many avenues of funding available. We need help in researching these areas, and in consultation with the Committee, drawing up applications and bids. This is a challenging task that could be shared by two or more individuals.

If you have any spare time and would like to help the pond, please contact Colin or myself.

At Fleet Pond Society, we always have a need for volunteers and these cover a wide range of backgrounds and skills.

As a recent example, Fleet Pond Society plan to sell bespoke sweatshirts later this year to help raise funds and we were in need of some graphic design expertise. Here’s the story:

Megan writes:

“Back in July this year I posted a small description of my desire to gain ‘real-life’ Graphic Design experience on an internet forum and Beth Pipe from Fleet Pond Society got in touch to see if I was interested in creating some designs for new sweatshirts. The rest as they say is history!

I am a 21 year old third year Graphic Design student studying at the University of Lincoln and am always on the look out for ‘live project’ experience. Growing up as a member of the YOC (Young Ornithologists Club) in Bromley, Kent and a real nature lover this project seemed an ideal project for me.

Picture: An Early Design (Final Version Has The Heron Below)

We began by discussing the different wildlife at Fleet Pond and I was given free reign to come up with the initial ideas. This way the committee could focus their vision and help to choose an appropriate design. This design project was very much a collaboration with the committee and it was important for me to produce something that not only they were happy with but that they could feel truly emulated Fleet Pond.

The initial ideas were made up of illustrations of pond life in outline and silhouette formats. Then after seeing my designs the committee decided they would like to see some more bird designs in the style of the Uffington horse.

After a few more consultations and amendments the design was finalised. A heron in flight.

I am planning on becoming a full-time freelance Graphic Designer when I graduate in May this year working directly with design agencies and also with local businesses. My main focus is currently in the print, branding and advertising fields although I hope to expand on my web design knowledge to offer a broad range of design capabilities.

If you are interested, inspired or just curious about my work take a look at my blog or email me for more information. I am currently happy to negotiate work for little or no fee to gain valuable experience and to add to my portfolio.”

If you (or your friends and family) have skills that you think may be useful to the Society then please get in touch as there’s more going on than you might imagine! Contact details are in the About page.

Beth Pipe (above) writes:

A few weeks ago three of us (myself and, left to right, Richard Bennett and Steve Pipe below) decided to venture out onto the pond to collect rubbish. So we donned our best wellies and life jackets, grabbed the boat from the workshop and off we went. Well I say we donned our best wellies – one of our number decided to attempt the feat wearing only trainers – which presented many muddy athletic challenges!

We dragged the boat round to the launch point and those of us with wellies pushed the boat out into the water. Those of us wearing only trainers got to sit in the boat and watch all the hard work!

The first thing we realised was how shallow the pond really is. There was only the three of us in a flat bottomed boat, but it was just about impossible to row anywhere near the edges of the pond. The problem was particularly bad around the end of Brookly stream and at Sandy Bay. In fact the picture of Sandy Bay below was taken at a point about as near as we dared try rowing in.

We managed to get right up to the edges of the reed beds though and collected plenty of rubbish – mostly the sorts of things you’d expect; empty beer cans, carrier bags, discarded tennis balls, random bits of wood etc. We did find one birthday balloon still partly inflated and, rather more worryingly, one used syringe.

The worst area for rubbish is at the end of Brookly Stream – but as I mentioned it’s impossible to access this area by boat. Unfortunately it’s also just about impossible to access it from land as well so, sadly, the rubbish in that area will have to remain there for now. In an age when the recycling and save the planet messages are so loud and clear it’s quite sad to see so much litter still discarded and damaging the environment – and especially some of the more vulnerable wildlife.

Whilst we were in the boat we took the opportunity to visit the many islands on the pond – it’s nice to see things from a different angle and it’s clear that these islands provide a wonderful haven to many birds. Talking of birds, at one stage we saw 7 herons in a cluster of treetops. Unfortunately our camera wasn’t of a high enough resolution to capture them all, but it was certainly very impressive to see.

We also checked out the newly installed Tern Islands and evidence of their use was very clear – which is excellent news.

We’ll try to get out in the boat again next year after the nesting season for another litter patrol – maybe if there are fewer of us we can get closer in to the edges – particularly at Brookly Stream. It’s not the most glamorous of jobs, though rowing around the pond was fun (and quite tiring after the first hour or so – maybe we can interest Sir Steve Redgrave in helping out next time?). We landed one big black bag of rubbish so it was a job well worth doing – but if would be so much nicer if there was no litter in the first place.