Rachel Jones, Hart Countryside Ranger, informs us that Fleet Pond has recently achieved Green Flag status, which is a national benchmark for parks and green spaces in the UK.

You can read about the Green Flag Award on their web site here, which includes:

“Awards are given on an annual basis and winners must apply each year to renew their Green Flag status. We realise that all green spaces are different and this diversity is welcomed, with each site being judged on its own merits and suitability to the community it serves.”

Picture credit: from their web site above.

Please click to zoom

David Pottinger writes:

Recently Colin Gray, Chairman of Fleet Pond Society, and his wife Mavis were having lunch in Serendipity in Fleet, when a lady sitting opposite noticed the FPS logo on Colin’s gilet.

“My husband has a photograph of a bridge over Fleet Pond” she said, “would you like to see it?” This was followed up and resulted in Fleet Pond Society obtaining the remarkable picture above.

So, literally, a really good example of serendipity, as the shop’s tagline is ‘the art of making happy & unexpected discoveries’!

“The records of the training activity of the Royal Engineers (RE) and other army units based around Fleet and Aldershot are very limited. The RE Museum has not come up with any records of the RE training in the 19th century in this area. The local historians have written on the subject based mostly on what people living in Fleet have either remembered or been told by relatives.

The RE built the large island off Sandy Bay that we call Fir Tree Island, for example. They also built the large T-jetty that was demolished in 1912 to permit floatplane trials from the embankment where Lions View now stands. Mike Smith, who sold me the bridge photograph, believes the large trestle bridge was in fact built from that same embankment and the T-jetty might have been part of that bridge left as a jetty when the bridge itself was demolished.

The bridge was 470 yards long and extended from the sandy embankment on the eastern side across Fleet Pond to where there is now a white house set well back off the road at 93 Kenilworth Road. This house has views of the Pond through the viewpoint we opened to install two seats. It is near the small boat jetty built by our Last of the Summer Wine volunteers.

From the photographs I have collected so far, it seems that these major construction tasks were late 19th century. By 1904, for example, the T-jetty was already badly deteriorated and Fir Tree Island was already well established and tree-covered.”

Here are some other impressive pictures that relate to the military history of Fleet Pond, plus links to the associated articles.

Read about the above picture here

Read about the picture above and below here

Picture credits: top (Colin Gray) and for the others, please see the original posts.

Having a go at identifying the fish typically found in Fleet Pond!

To give a flavour of the event, here is a selection of photos that I took at the Wildlife Day held at Fleet Pond on Saturday 30 May this year.

Members of Fleet Pond Society explaining the wide variety of tasks that we carry out at the Pond

Tasty refreshments provided by the Chieftain Explorer Scouts

Fun and games for the children

An  overview of some of the attractions – it was a really nice day too!

Traditional ice cream was on hand…

An interesting day out for the family

The stall of Blackwater Valley Countryside

An open air demonstration of some basic First Aid

Advertising a forthcoming event…

The fish tank attracted a lot of attention (see also picture at top above)

Making sure everything is under control

Bird watching and info on one of the jetties (RSPB)

Pond dipping at the platform

The original poster for the event can be found here.

Photo credits: David Pottinger.

Above and below are some pictures of the attractive and unusual carved wooden tables in the picnic area at Fleet Pond (see also map at the bottom of this post where the picnic area is indicated).

As you can see, there is wheelchair access.

In the picnic area there is a walk marker in case you’d like to explore the nature reserve further. Details of the three (colour coded) walks can be found here.

The picnic area is just a convenient short walk from the car park (off the A3014, as shown – there is a sign indicating Fleet Pond).

Why not give it a try?

If you have any comments on the facilities, we’d be keen to hear them!

David Pottinger writes:

I set up a photo group in Flickr some time ago (entitled Fleet Pond Society) to help publicise the variety of scenes and events that take place at the Pond.

I recently noticed this amazing photo of a pair of young coots taken by Mark that was shared in our group. Please click on the link photo below to be taken to the original, together with additional photos and further details:

Please note that All Rights are reserved for the original picture.

See also the Flickr widget on the lower rhs of this blog for thumbnails of recent submissions to our group.

Please consider joining the FPS Flickr group if this subject interests you!