Notification: I must point out that I have special permission to be on the Eversley quarry site of Fleet hill farm, Manor farm and the Hampshire part. These are not open areas for general access. Public rights of way are being incorporated into the sites to enable people to enjoy the new reserves.

Please bear this in mind. Although I refer them in my blog as reserves, they are still, technically, part of an operating quarry. So please keep to the existing public rights of way, and wait for the new ones to be adopted. Also it is will be even more important to stick to the public rights of way when they do become reserves so as not to disturb the wildlife.

Update: Apparently Cemex and RSPB have been working together to restore 1000 hectares of ex-gravel works to prime habitat. The aim was to achieve this by 2020. They actually managed the 1000th hectare in 2017.

Eversley was the first hectare to be restored under this partnership; actually the Moor Green lakes and surrounding area e.g. Horseshoe lake. This youtube video features scenes from Manor farm which regular readers will be familiar with.  Here is an explanation on the RSPB's website, and here is one on the Cemex website about them being runner up in the MPA Quarries from Nature awards due to their work on the Eversley quarry restoration.

27th Jan 2018 - we get a mention in The Telegraph: 50 disused quarries turned into wildlife habitats to help Britain's endangered wildlife. "Eversley Quarry in Hampshire was the first to be completed following three years of work by wildlife and conservation experts."  Ahhh, they missed phase 2, the subject of this blog.

This blog is about a proposed nature reserve on the Cemex gravel extraction works between Finchampstead and Eversley. There are three parts to the reserve.

1. Moor Green Lakes.  This reserve already exists.  It was restored by Cemex some years ago.
2. Manor Farm.
3. Fleet Hill Farm.

Initially, this blog concentrates on the restoration efforts Cemex engaged in prior to handing over the reserve to a conservation group for day to day management.  Once this happens, I would then hope to chart the efforts required to turn the raw restoration into a fully operational nature reserve.

That being said, there is already a wealth of wildlife inhabiting the site, mostly as Cemex have ceased extracting gravel, and appears to be a mecca for bird watchers.  We often encounter them as we walk around the footpath, humping their tripods, spotting scopes, cameras and binoculars or perhaps exchanging notes with each other on what they have spotted that day.

Although I live about three miles away from the proposed new reserve, I only learnt about it recently. I started to photograph the efforts Cemex are expanding in clearing the gravel works and, as is the nature of such endeavours, realised I had a photo journal before I knew it.

Extent of entire reserve

The plan below shows the extent of the reserve.  It stretches for 2.2 miles along the Blackwater river.

Moor Green Farm is already a nature reserve, namely Moor Green Lakes nature reserve. For more details see here Moor Green Lakes Group or here RSPB entry. Perhaps you could join us on one of our work parties to aid in the conservation of this reserve.

Fleet Hill farm is supposed to be ready as a reserve by end of summer 2017. Apart from a few sub-phases, this appears to have been achieved.

Approximately 18 months later, Manor Farm will be incorporated into the reserve. A target date in a planning application I read suggested that restoration of Manor farm should be completed by 31st December 2018. Personally, as of 7th October 2018, I can't see this happening unless the scale of infill is altered drastically or a lot more resources are thrown at the restoration effort.

You may notice, dear reader, quite a few differences between the various plans and google earth images of the reserve displayed below. I am not sure why.  I suspect that some of the differences are due to extraction of gravel. This is certainly true of the Fleet Hill farm portion of the reserve. Note: I have since discovered that the plans for the restoration were fairly fluid and subject to numerous alterations.

Update: I am keeping my speculations for historical reasons. Part of the 'fun' of keeping this blog is working out what Cemex and Inert are up to.  Well, the later posts show that they are infilling Finch pond. They may also modify Cormorant and Manor farm lakes to look more like the plan.

Plan of proposed Manor Farm part of reserve and image from Google Earth

NOTE: I've finally got around to updating the google earth image with the expanded reference points. Hopefully, this will allow you to navigate my text a little better.

The plan below is the Manor Farm extension. Below that is a Google Earth image as of March 2017. Note the difference between the it and the plan.  Particularly Finch Lake, which is now huge, and what I have been calling Cormorant Lake which is supposed to be joined to the bigger lake to its right.  The Pump Station area, currently on dry land, would be in the middle of a lake, according to the Cemex plan.

As described above we start our walk at the Moor Green Lake car park, located in the top right hand corner of the map. The details shown in this map are the proposed public right of ways, and possibly some further landscaping. As an example, currently there is a sizable lake at the point I call the Pump Station.  This lake is not shown in the map.

There are large areas of this new reserve I have not photographed as we have tended to keep to the current public footpaths.

We cross the Longwater road at the culvert/entrance to the reserve  to get enter Fleet Hill farm immediately opposite.

Plan of proposed Fleet Hill farm part of the reserve and image from Google Earth.

This is the Fleet Hill farm extension showing proposed structure and public right of ways. Below that is a Google Earth as of Sept 2017.

Stone Crusher lake is a small manky green lake. The plans below suggest that it will be filled in.

Swan lake is also a small manky green lake, which according to the plan will get bigger.

There is a large part of this extension that I have not really photographed as we have tended to stick to the footpaths. Most all the restoration had been completed by the time I started photographing the works.

Update 7th October 2018. I suspect that apart from a few small pieces of work (e.g. completion of bridle path) Fleet Hill farm is pretty much restored. One of the planning applications I read said that tree planting will occur in the year after restoration has been completed. As this happened earlier on in 2018, this would suggest that, apart from a few sub-phases, restoration is complete.

This post shows how the Fleet Hill Farm and Manor Farm parts of the Cemex Eversley gravel works has changed over the years since 1999.  Credit has to go to the Google corporation for their Google Earth initiative and also for developing Googe Earth Pro.  This free application allowed me to explore a history of the images Google have taken of our planet since 1999, and to also save images.

I would recommend you download Google Earth Pro.  It allows to you to zoom in to see an incredible amount of detail.

As well as showing the evolution of the area, the images also demonstrate the evolution of the techniques Google used to photograph the landscape.  If you look closely you will notice that Google had problems stitching some parts of the images together.  They also either went through a number companies to do the fly over and photography or simply garnered images from different GIS companies over the years.

The images below have been reduced considerably in size from the Google Earth images. It would take ages for this blog to load across the network if I left them at full resolution.

Note. I've used Google Earth as was readily available and convenient to use.  There are other GIS sources available, which may provide even higher resolution images or greater quality.  You pays your money and takes your choice.

Several times in this blog I mention the complex geology of the area.  I found a map, courtesy of my old College, that goes part way to showing this complexity. Greater detail can be found here Eocene sands and iron map a natty title that sort of rolls of the tongue.

I've taken the liberty of inserting a much reduced image in this blog. The vertical red line marks the Longwater road. If you zoom in you may just make out the words "Cemex works" to the left of it. This is actually on the Fleethill farm part of the works. To the immediate right of the red line is Manor farm. Count two large lakes to the right and you reach Moor Green lakes.

Quite a landmark are our works.

Firstly, dear reader, a treat. A Peregrine falcon has been flying around Manor farm. I had spotted and photographed it a month ago, but hadn't realised what it was, such is the dodgy nature of my bird recognition skills. In my defence, it was 200 metres away on the far side of Cormorant lake north, whilst I was on the south footpath.

This Wednesday, however, it firstly flew out of the trees some 50 metres in front of me, whilst I was near the sewage works. The blighter flew off east, and I thought nothing of it until I passed the former location of the boulder sorter outer and spotted a white smudge on the end of the scrape in Cormorant lake.

I still didn't know what it was until I photographed it (at 300mm) and looked at the resulting image.  The beauty sat there for at least ten minutes, with lorries trundling past, before it took off.  I must have taken 50 photographs, as I walked east along the footpath, getting ever so slightly closer to it.

I wonder if it is one of the birds from Woking?

This has been heavily cropped out of the photo.  My cheap, entry level Tamron 16-300mm did its best; though at 300mm images are a little soft.  Sigh, I shall continue saving the pennies for a mid range lens.

Moving back to the mundane, dear reader, what is left of Finch pond has been split into two small ponds; one east and one west.  Over the past week Inert have extended the infill from the copse to join up with the 'causeway' they built from the north shore of Finch pond last week.  There is now a land bridge between the north and south shores of Finch pond.

With the pump still chugging away, water levels were very low, which enabled me to easily hop across the small stream running through the middle of the land bridge, thus crossing from the north shore of Finch pond to its south shore.  The small, nay tiny, stream is draining Finch pond west into Finch pond east, thence through the channel to Cormorant lake.  Water is then pumped out of Cormorant lake, over the Blackwater to three settlement tanks, whence the filtered water then flows into the Blackwater.

Elsewhere, infill has taken place taking various areas up to their finish level.  However, perversely areas bordering the north shore of Finch pond which had reached their finish levels have been bulldozed into Finch pond!  A familiar pattern, dear reader.  Therefore, yet more inert material will be trucked into the area.

As I suspected, there was no way that Manor farm could be finished by the end of this year.  I have been informed that a new finish date has been set - the end of next year.  This, I feel, is eminently achievable. However, I do not know the details, and an unable to comment as to whether the whole site will be completed. This will involve laying down of footpaths and bridleways, planting of trees, building fencing, etc, etc, etc.

The recent heavy rains have made the area exceedingly muddy. I had up to three inches (75mm) of mud stuck to the sides of my wellies.  Thankfully I did not encounter any quicksand.

Some strange, yellow signs appeared on the strange structure built near the Longwater road entrance. Q Bays, apparently. No idea what this might mean, unless it is an area for the lorries to queue in.  Unlikely, but then the unlikeliest of actions appear to happen with this restoration.

I did notice a great deal of activity on the Chandlers farm part of the reserve.  Mostly around the huge mound of earth near the Blackwater. There were also a number of piles of spoil along the road leading to Manor farm. I didn't investigate, partly as I spotted these mid week, and partly as I haven't been paying a great deal of attention to Chandlers farm due to it being mostly for sports grounds.

Now some other animal shots.

Finch pond, once mighty and huge, has all but disappeared. Inert have continued their onslaught, pushig the shores of this pond ever closer together.  They have formed a mini 'spit' of land that gets within ten feet (3m) or so of the south shore of Finch pond next to the copse.

The west shore of Finch pond has undergone extensive remodelling, being filled in all the way to the former 'causeway'.  Maybe the 'causeway' was built as a marker, a survey point for Inert to know where to fill in to.  Who knows.

I noticed a survey stake which was marked with the finish level of the 'river' - presumably the reinstated course of the Colebrook.

What I can say is that Finch pond is now really tiny; almost the size of a couple of large village ponds.

I am also wondering if the grading of the south shore, sloping gently to Finch pond, is now a shallow area for reed beds. Once pumping stops and water levels rise (can't really call this area a lake any more) then the south shore of Finch pond will be under a couple or so feet of water - given that yet more soil isn't brought in.

The north shore has had some slopes bulldozed into it.  I am unsure as to whether these are simply tracks for the lorries to negotiate  or will be the reed bed area of this part of Manor farm.

Indications are the pump was not pumping on Wednesday. I didn't wander to the pump on Saturday to see if it was chugging away.  Water levels are very low now, but can rise very quickly.  The reasons why the lakes have to be pumped dry for restoration work is amply demonstrated by the formation of the new 'spit' near the copse and the remodelling of the west shore of Finch pond.  You can't do this if the water level is some six to eight feet (1.8m to 2.4m) above where the bulldozer will be trundling.

The boulder sorter outer has gone. Whether it will be replaced is only known to Inert.  I suspect not as work will have to shift to Cormorant lake to have any chance of completing restoration before the breeding season resumes next March.  Though with the work on Finch pond complete, breeding birds can switch to it, leaving Cormorant lakes north and south free for restoration work.

I noticed, on Wednesday, some contractors working near the footbridge on Fleet Hill farm. I didn't investigate. I did pop round on Saturday.  It was hard to discern what, if anything, they were doing.  I did notice a number of the tree saplings (complete with plastic tubes) had been pushed over. I doubt it was due to vandals as the number knocked over was tiny. It is possible that Roe deer knocked them over or that the contractors were determining which saplings had not survived the drought.

I am not sure how many of the saplings made it through the drought. Those planted nearer the various ponds and lakes appear to have done well.  The others appear, at this early stage, to have taken quite a hit.

Roll on next year to find out.

One patch of reeds, that was planted earlier in the year, appear to be thriving. The patch I inspected was on the east shore of the pond I christened 'Stone crusher lake'.  I may take a walk along the rest of Fleet Hill farm at some stage to see how the rest of the reeds have done.

I've updated my diagram of my estimation on how much progress has taken place.  It has, I'm afraid, got a little messy.  As usual, it is highly approximate.

The purple represents basic infill that has occurred over the past year.

The orange represents my best guess as to the infill which has reached its finish level.

The yellow is the infill and modelling that occurred over the past couple of weeks; particularly a big push into Finch pond.

I've attempted to give an indication of the slope direction on the south shore of Finch pond. Any slope is highly gentle, most of it is just a shallow basin.

The survey stake on the mound of soil in this next photo defines the finish level for the 'BL river' - essentially the Colebrook.  I have no idea why it is labelled BL river.  The lines, which I have drawn in, gives you an idea of the final finish level for the area, and of the ramps that Inert have formed during the past week.  I have no idea if these 'ramps' will remain or if they will be filled in to the finish level.

Finally, on with the slide show.

You'll not be surprised to learn, dear reader, that my perplexity increases regarding the process by which Finch pond is restored.  I'm sure it makes sense to somebody somewhere, but not, I'm afraid, to my reasonably linear engineering type mind.

In addition to my normal Wednesday stroll, I also popped down on Friday for a much longer walk with the memsahib. I was able to see a little more of what Inert were up to.  They are best itemised.

1. The west shore of Finch pond has undergone considerable remodelling - butchery more like. Areas once filled in have been bulldozed into ramps. Others (e.g. the funny structures I called the inlets) have been partially restored.

2. Similarly, the south shore of Finch pond has had huge changes wreaked upon it. I have commented that having built up the entire southern area of this pond, it was then scooped out and pushed into the pond. A large proportion of the western half of this area gently shelves down into Finch pond; forming a sort of broad sloping beach.

The western portion of this 'beach' (basically up to the causeway) has been extended to meet (in places) the north shore of Finch pond. Meanwhile the eastern half of Finch pond has had its south shore extended further north.

3. The northern area of the copse has had the piles of spoil graded smooth, and it has almost reached its finish level.

4. The northern area of Finch pond continues it rise to the finish level, extending almost to the north shore of Finch pond near the Longwater road entrance. The eastern half of the northern area has its finish level extending about half way south.

One curious action I noticed was that the finish level had been extended about 3' to 4' (90cm-120cm) up the slope of the north embankment; and slopes gently south.  I did notice, some weeks back, that a bit of the bottom of the north embankment had been cut back, forming a vertical face some 3' to 4' high. At the time I thought this had something to do with the drainage channel or perhaps was over exuberant bulldozing. It appears that it may have been deliberate to mark out the finish level.

Having said that, I perhaps should not have said that as I know from experience that Inert will go off and do something completely unexpected. I don't have the master plan, and what I do have does not contain any elevation views or cross sections.

I am pleased to say, that the area I have been calling 'the depression' has been filled in.  This is countered by all the remodelling that has taken place, which includes digging out sections of the north west area of Finch pond. In particular forming ramps.

There is a survey stake on the north shore of Finch pond, round about three quarters of the way east from the Longwater road entrance. I call out this stake as on either side of it the land has reached its finish level.  However, this stake has its finish level marked a good 4' to 5' (120cm - 150cm) above the ground level either side of it.  This indicates to me that the shore here will undulate.  It might look very pretty and offer interesting landscaping, but boy will it require a lot of spoil.

Finally, the character of the spoil being applied to the area north of Finch pond (where it has reached its finish level) has changed.  It seems more like soil rather than inert building rubble.  There are the odd bits of rubble in it, but like nothing compared to what sits under it.  I am going to take a stab and say this is the final capping of good inert soil.

5. I noticed on Wednesday that further work has been done on the east side of the gravel bar i.e. a low banking separating Cormorant lake north and south. A lot more spoil has been dumped there and sculpted by a digger.  This seems to indicate to me (ha ha, famous last words) that the finish level for this part of Manor farm is given by the height of the gravel bar/spit.

The sculpting is quite extraordinary, with high steeply sloping sides.  The channel between Cormorant lakes north and south is still open ( I did expect it to be closed) but hardly any water runs through it as the pump still continues to drain the ponds.  However, we did notice that only one of the two channels, that normally carry pump water from the settlement ponds to the Blackwater) was flowing.  Either the other one is blocked or there isn't sufficient water to have them both flowing. Who knows.

It kind of makes sense to me. The plans for the area call for a bridle path to run around the north of Finch pond, more or less along the route of the north embankment and then skirting the 'reserve' along the Lower Sandhurst road.  This area is higher than Finch pond. Therefore the bridle path will need to slope upward.

6. I did notice, on Friday, that a digger was operating around the pump station. I could not really tell what it was doing, there were no apparent large scale changes.  I didn't pop down to the pump station of Saturday; partly in deference to the wildfowl in Cormorant lake south and partly as it was freezing cold.

There were definitely more tipper and grab loader lorries around this week.  Wednesday was dominated by John Stacey, whist Friday had a bigger mixture e.g. R Collard, Taurus, etc.  I haven't seen any Manor lorries recently or the rare Inert tipper lorries.

I still remain highly sceptical that restoration of Manor farm will be completed by 31st December of this year.  I reckon it will take at least until the middle or (more likely) end of November to complete restoration of Finch pond.  That leaves three to five weeks to complete work around Cormorant and Manor lakes.

According to the plans I have access to, there is a lot of infill and sculpting to come for these two lakes.  Of course, plans change, possibly in the light of wildlife sightings or other environmental factors.  This could lead to the restoration requirements being lessened (especially the amount of inert waste required) and so allowing the finish date to be met.

I think I am being optimistic here.

One thought did spring to mind. What am I to do once both Inert have completed their restoration and any initial flurry of work done by the conservation groups who will take over management of the nature reserve? No need for weekly recording of progress.

I shall have to hang around on street corners again.  :-)

Will the restoration of Manor farm be completed before the 31st December of this year?

I reckon it is too close a call to make. It all depends what happens to Cormorant lake and how much inert waste has to be trucked in. If the infill of Finch pond is completed by the end of this month, and the restoration of Cormorant lake simply requires the north embankment and ridges to be bulldozed into it then the answer is probably yes.

Though once landscaping has been completed it will be over to finer details like tree planting, construction of footpaths and bridle paths, fencing laying, etc, etc, etc. However, these, according to the planning applications, take place after the site has been filled in and contoured.

Enough speculation - I should know by now not to do so. Back to this week's progress.

My Wednesday morning visit revealed the bulldozer driver pottering just south of the Longwater road entrance; pushing the top surface of soil around.  I'm not sure what precisely was going on. Perhaps clearing some of the water after the deluge we had.

Later on he was working on the new west shore of Finch pond, both to the north and south of it. This area seems particularly complex, and undergoes frequent changes - mainly of being filled in and then dug out again.

This is also the cast for the area south of the current shore of Finch pond. A large amount of it has been dug out by a couple of feet, and the spoil pushed into Finch pond. I am still baffled by this process. Perhaps this area is to be shallows for reed beds - it is quite a large area.

On the other hand, I did notice a whole stack of rubble (large concrete blocks) spread out along the west side of the copse, extending over the track way previously used by the haulage lorry. This rubble looks like the stuff screened by the boulder sorter outer, and has simply been bulldozed over to the west of the copse.  The area where the screener resides has had a lot of the hills of spoil removed.

The pump has been doing a splendid job of draining Finch pond and Cormorant lake.  Its job is much easier now that so much of Finch pond has been filled in.

The causeway, so carefully constructed earlier on in the year, has made a reappearance due to falling water levels.

Time, as they say, will tell.

Once again it was rather misty when I arrived for my Saturday stomp around Manor farm.  Wednesday wasn't too wonderful either, weather wise.

Regulars may have noticed a slight delay in this week's update. This was partly due to a problem with my network adapter. One possible explanation was that it was due to a Microsoft update issue.  The solution of not Ipv4 or Ipv6 wi-fi or internet connection is to use netsh to reset the winsock catalog and then reset the Ipv4 protocol.

As usual, there was a fair amount of wildlife on Manor farm, even whilst all the plant were trundling around the site. I was happy to see the Lapwing flocks gathering, though they were not yet as large as last year.  There is still much time for them to grow in size.

Saturday's early morning visit had the plethora of Canada geese, Egyptian geese and a surprise appearance of a flock of Barnacle geese.  Photos of many of these can be found on the RSPB's Community forum.

Unless my eyes deceive me, the bulldozer driver has a shiny new bulldozer. It has a smaller cab, and wider caterpillar tracks. Walking over the tracks, I think I can just make out the extensions to them to give them a wider width.

I was getting a little concerned about the bulldozer driver.  It is possibly he has been on holiday for the past two weeks. Equally, he may have been on site all the time operating a digger or the bulldozer in a different part of the works. Perhaps he may have been awaiting the shiny new dozer.

Regardless of the reason, the return of the bulldozer marks an increased acceleration in the rate of restoration. I saw him working all over Manor farm on Wednesday morning; around the boulder sorter outer, scraping an ever greater area of the south shore of Finch pond into said pond, extending the finish level ground on the northern part of the Finch pond infill. The finish level has extended along the base of the north embankment almost all the way to the ridge.

There is still a terrific amount of infill to happen before finishing with Finch pond. I reckon as much as six feet (1.8m) over large swathes of the area.  I really can't see the December 31st 2018 deadline being reached.  Effectively it is only two months away - everything does stop for Christmas, and rightly so.

The final level of the ground does undulate so. Looking at the survey stakes, I can see figures of 51m, 52m etc. I assume this is metres above sea level.  Though I think the average height of land here is over 60m, possibly 70m. I am therefore a little confused what the finish level height is.

I am wondering, though I should have learnt my lesson by now not to second guess what will happen, if the excavations the bulldozer driver has been studiously doing on the southern portion of Finch pond is for a shallow area of reed beds. It is a bit curious, having filled in this large area and smoothed it off, it is now being excavated and pushed into Finch pond.

Other happenings. I noticed contractors strimming around the saplings on Fleet Hill farm. A never ending task, as we know from maintaining Moor Green Lakes. I am still perplexed as to some of the strimming and mowing. Nettles are growing back a pace on the west and north embankments and ridge.

As usual, the pump is not pumping and water levels are creeping back up.  It was decidedly muddy around bits of the infill. Some of this is due, no doubts, to the rain we've had recently. Some I reckon is due to the rising water levels.

I have mentioned, a couple of times, about the amount of building rubble I see being bulldozed into Finch pond, and Cormorant lake previously. I queried it's 'inertness'.  I did some investigation to find out the cost of inert material.  I never did find a cost, but did discover that inert waste covers a reasonably wide spectrum of materials.  Building rubble is perfectly legitimate inert material.

I think the basic definition of inert waste is that it does not leach nasty chemicals into the environment.

You might notice that the funny little bits of the pond, looking like inlets on the west shore have been filled in. Well, the southern bit was filled in a couple of weeks ago. It has now been partially excavated and now slopes down to the water surface; which seems to be normal practice.  The northern bit has been filled in, but as with the south bit, it too slopes down to the water surface.

An updated map, which is highly approximate, of the infill (purple) and where it has reached the finish level (orange). Some of the trackways, which the lorries follow, are at the finish level, as are some parts of the north shore of Finch pond. I have not marked these in. However, I do include some photos in the slide show with the surveys stakes detailing where the finish level has been reached.

Photography was a little challenging, especially when pointing my camera east. The sun, rising over the horizon, would cause my camera to under expose the photo. I sort of had a crack at fixing this in post processing software.

Although it presented some challenges for photography, the sunrise did offer considerable opportunities for some arty shots (as I call them) of the considerable amount of wildlife (some critically endangered) that already inhabit the site.  These shots are of the more common birds.

I came across an article in the 'Get Reading' online newspaper about the Eversley quarry. Written sometime in 2014, it talked about the extension to the quarry and disruption to the local community in Finchampstead; which is quite small in number.  However, it did mention that restoration would be completed by 31st December 2018!

Addendum: I decided to see if I could find a definitive completion date for the restoration and entered into the murky world of planning applications. Using the posting on the MGLG website, I climbed onto the Wokingham Council website and found the numerous documentation, amendments, plans etc associated with planning application VAR/2013/2511.  In these documents, it does state that the completion dates for restoration of Manor farm and Fleet Hill farm is 31st December 2018.  Interestingly, there is a corresponding planning application for the Chandlers farm (Hampshire side of the works as I recently discovered) for plant to be removed by 31st December 2019, and restoration completed by 31st July 2020.

Personally, I can't really see the restoration of Manor farm happening by 31st December 2018. Progress on the infill of Finch pond has been slow and steady. Areas at the north west corner of Manor farm have reached the finish level of infill - which puzzles me as the whole lot is supposed to be capped with inert soil. I can't see the stuff being bulldozed into the lake being terribly inert.

At the current rate of progress, I reckon the infill of Finch pond will be complete round about the end of the year. Which leaves the matter of what is to happen to the lake I call Cormorant lake. One set of plans that I have seen suggest that most of this lake (both north and south) will be filled in. Another shows a fair amount of the lake being incorporated into Manor lake south; but with most of the northern parts of the lake filled in.

I feel it would be a shame to fill in Cormorant lake. It hosts such a huge range and number of wildfowl. Far better, to my untutored mind, to fill in Cormorant lake north, and leave Cormorant lake south well alone. It would certainly save a lot of money and allow completion of the reserve to be achieved much quicker.  However, saying that the Fleet Hill farm and Moor Green Lakes parts of the reserve do have fairly large ponds and lakes, which the birds can use.  Strangely I do not see the large numbers of Greylag and Egyptian geese in these parts of the reserve.

I have been studiously ignoring the restoration of Chandlers farm, mostly as I believed it would be given over to sports grounds.  Now that I have actually gone back and inspected the plans properly, I notice that there is supposed to be a large reserve area to the east of the site - mainly where the works buildings are.  However, once again I am hearing differing news on what precisely will be the final plan for this area.  It has changed substantially over the decades.

In terms of progress. A visit on Wednesday morning revealed a scene similar to last week: a digger working on the north west corner of Manor farm, with a handful of lorries bringing in spoil. I have now decided that I hit tea break time on a Wednesday morning, as all the plant operators head over to the Hampshire part of the reserve.

I did notice that soil had been scrapped off the side of the west embankment i.e. the banking along the Longwater road. My Saturday visit revealed that it had been used to fill in the gap between it and the raised area that has been constructed over the past couple of week.

This raised area is now, as I mentioned earlier, at the Finish level for the infill. It has been extended about three quarters the way east along the base of the north embankment; thus filling in the drainage channel.

Some work has been taking place along the new south shore of Finch pond. Nothing dramatic, just fiddling with the edges.

Perversely, the pump has been turned off or has run out of diesel. Consequently, lake levels are, once again, rising. The birds, of course, love it. I do find it somewhat amusing the way the pump keeps being turned on and off, but cannot fathom the logic.

I've had stab at updating the progress map of Finch pond with the area I believe has reached the finish infill level. I do not know if this will then be capped with a layer of inert soil, but a quick eye ball seems to suggest that the the final level is that same height as the Longwater road.  This should prevent flooding of the area.

I wonder if the car park will be constructed now. It would make sense, from my untrained point of view.  Just cap the area around the Longwater road entrance with concrete and tarmac whilst it is still effectively a building site - rather than having to dig footings after restoration is complete.

Anyway, the orange area in the following diagram is my stab at estimating the portion of Finch pond that is at the final level.

Bright sunny weather on Wednesday morning was replaced by low heavy clouds, gloom and mist, with rain fast approaching.

A Wednesday morning visit to the works was somewhat quiet. There were a couple of contractors working on Fleet Hill farm, just north of the Longwater road entrance, mowing and strimming around the saplings.  I took a look down a few of the protective plastic tubes on my Saturday visit. Most of the saplings do not appear to have survived the drought.

It's hard to tell as I am not an expert. Some appeared to have fat buds, but no leaves. Others did thrive and have branches growing out the top of the tubes. Others looked distinctly dead. However, I have had saplings in plant pots that I thought were gonners only to be surprised in spring when the burst into life.

Judging by the number of empty tubes in the bank of trees planted some years ago along the Longwater road, I'd say the death rate for saplings is quite high.

Hopping over the Longwater toad to Manor farm revealed a peaceful scene. A blue digger was resting by the former west shore of Finch pond, while a grab loader was serenely dropping a load of spoil next to it. I might have arrive at the works at early morning tea break.  Later on a couple of John Stacey lorries and some further grab loaders trundled by. Nothing like the armada I have seen before.

That restoration work has proceeded this week, though at a sedate pace, is evident. Piles of spoil have been scrapped into the depressed area and around the south shore of Finch pond. Other piles have appeared, and the huge pile in the north west corner of Manor farm has grown slightly. You'd have to compare photos to gain a proper appreciation of any work.

However, Saturday morning was misty and foggy. The fog would clear slightly to mist, only to regather itself and obscure everything.

The pump was quiet again, though water levels remain low, despite the recent rain. My nemesis (mud) was conspicuously absent, with the ground being rock hard, especially on the infill due to the heavy plant trundling on it.

Some 'arty' shots for you. There appeared to be little wildlife around. This might be due more to not being able to see them with all the fog and mist around. Even so, Cormorant lakes north and south, which normally teems with wild fowl, were remarkably empty.  There were a fair number of Egyptian geese around Cormorant lake south. They took off west, in dribs and drabs, to their feeding grounds in the west.

Inert seemed to be following what I predicted they might do. This is to my untrained eye, and I may well not have noticed a whole lot of what they might have been up to. However, the huge pile of spoil in the north west corner of Manor farm continues to grow, with many piles of spoil added to it.  Also, further piles of spoil have been dumped onto the depression, no doubt ready to be bulldozed.

Speaking of bulldozers, it was conspicuous by its absence. Unusually for me, I visited the proto-reserve on Wednesday. I saw lorries trundling around, dropping spoil around the huge heap, depression and round the boulder sorter outer. There was no bulldozer in sight.  It is possible it was working on the Hampshire part of the reserve or involved in other duties. However, I only ever see one bulldozer, perhaps the driver was on holiday or ill.

Further piles of spoil were dropped around the north end of the copse, plus two huge piles on the shore of Cormorant lake next to the scrape. I noticed these piles last week, but only got around to photographing them this week.

With water levels fast reaching their lowest point, I suspect further work will now switch to sculpting Cormorant lake and its interface with Finch pond.

There were huge numbers of Egyptian geese and a lesser number of Canada geese, this morning. It is amazing the amount of wildlife this proto-reserve supports, and it isn't even ready. I hope the ultimate plans for the reserve do not preclude the geese and Lapwings. They seem to like the low lying scrub, mud flats and scrape type structures.  It would be a pity if these habitats were turned into yet more reed beds.

This isn't a particularly long report as most of the scene looks the same. I hopped around the site a bit, and tried to present the more salient and interesting photos.  Hopefully, the bulldozer will be back in action next week, and we'll see more going on. However, judging by the racket, a whole lot is going on over on the Hampshire part of the reserve.

The light really was as bad as it looks in some of the photos. Quite cloudy and overcast.

Before this week's update: I finally twigged something about the Manor farm restoration.  The evidence was available to me (i.e. google earth images), I just didn't examine them properly. All became clear now that I know how the restoration process takes place i.e. it appears fairly random.

Comparing google earth images from 2014 against those from 2017, it became clear to me that Inert have already filled in large parts of the Manor farm part of the reserve: a long thin pond to the south of Finch pond and the area I call the land mass i.e. between the copse and Cormorant lake.

I suspect other landscaping took place around Manor lakes north and south, with planting of reed beds as well.

There I thought that all the restoration had started sometime last year.

Ploughing on with this week's instalment. It never pays to second guess what Inert will get up to next. Having predicted they might go ahead and fill in the flat depression along the north shoreline of Finch pond, they instead have concentrated on the south shore of Finch pond and north west corner of Manor farm.  I also note, on my Thursday visit, that spoil was being dumped near the pump station.

Inert are constructing an enormous pile of spoil in the north west corner of Manor farm. It covers a large area, and exceeds the target infill level by a couple or so feet. At its north end is a huge mound of spoil. I'm not sure if this is indicative of the eventual height of this structure or simply the way that Inert work.

Although I saw the bulldozer working this area on Thursday, the marks in the ground I saw today suggests the digger also joined in the fun.

I've seen Inert exhibit this behaviour before. They build an enormous structure or fill in an area (e.g. south of Finch pond) then either bulldoze it all down or scrape it all up. Perhaps they need the space on the Hampshire side of the reserve or maybe they can only get sufficient haulage lorries for a short space of time.

Even more curious is a structure built just to the south of the Longwater road entrance. It is a low (2' - 60cm) thin bank of soil in the shape of a very large U or staple. The open ends of this structure are protected by the 'concrete cube' i.e. the concrete sewer sections.  I cannot for the life of me work out what it is for.  It is beautifully crafted.

It is hard to work out precisely what Inert have been doing along the south shore of Finch pond. There are signs of activity, but I can't place my finger on what was done.

The wide track of crushed rock, near the pump station and works bridge, has been cleared again. I'd love to know why or how it keeps being constructed and then deconstructed. I wonder if they lay down a whole load of large rocks and boulders, and then simply drive some crusher vehicle over it several times to break the whole lot up?

The pump keeps chugging away, reasonably quietly, and water levels have dropped considerably.  No doubts attention will be turned to Cormorant lake in the near future.

Slide show to appear as and when.

For once, dear reader, Inert appear to have done what I predicted they would. They continued build up the lower level of the infill. There is more still to do, but in typical fashion effort has now moved to the north west corner of Manor farm.  This area is to contain a proposed car park. I say proposed, as the plans we have access to are fluid and subject to change.

There are signs that work has been going on at other locations on Manor farm. They don't appear to be dramatic. I did notice a lorry dumping a load next to the soil heap near the pump station. I was too far away to see what it was. This may involve me taking a wander along Cormorant lake to see what is going on.

The pump is back. Either a brand new one or the existing one has been refurbished. I guess work cannot continue along the shores of the ponds and lakes until their levels have been reduced.

I'm afraid to say that the oak tree at the mouth of the Colebrook in the copse has had a slight mishap. It was inevitable. It's damaged part has finally succumbed to time, gravity and the elements and fallen down.  I believe, some of the oak tree survives, as I remember the damaged bit (caused by fire or lighting) occurred only on one side of it.

A quick reminder that wildlife photos are now posted on the RSPB Wildlife Community forum. You do not need to register with the forums to read them

This Sunday's work party is a fairly gentle affair around Grove Hide, mainly clearing vegetation.

Meet at the new, extended car park on Lower Sandhurst road between 10:00 and 10:15am. Proceedings start at roughly 10:30am, though typically not until near 11:00am.  Contribute as much or as little as you are able. Any help much appreciated.

There is a danger, dear reader, that updates are going to be a little repetitive over the next few months. As suspected, Inert appear to now be concentrating on raising the level of infill to the survey marks.

That being said, they do appear to be bopping all over place. There are signs of considerable work on both north and south shores of Finch pond, plus activity in and around the pump station, and the ever changing piles around the boulder sorter outer seem to keep growing.

The area I presumed to be a scrape is now back to being an isolated scrape, due to the pump still being absent. Other areas around Finch pond are now well and truly underwater. To wit, the track leading to the ridge cutting, and the track around the north end of the copse. The 'causeway' going across the middle of Finch pond had long disappeared under the waves.

Looking at how Inert are raising the level of land, I am wondering if the level of the eastern portion is at its proper height for the base of the infill, and that it will be capped by soil from the north embankment. Consider these two photos.

The left photo shows a portion of the eastern infill. The circle is where the mound in the right photo is located. The base of the red and white warning tape is the target height of the land. Now seeing as the land will be capped with inert soil, one can suppose that the level of rubble filled spoil has been reached (i.e. the base layer) and that the north embankment will be bulldozed to achieve the final land level.

That is my guess, but as I have seen over the past year or so, my guesses have this habit of being way off the mark.

I am quite intrigued what is going on around the pump station and works bridge. Some of the activity is due to traffic control. The bulldozer drive builds up banks of soil to mark the edges of tracks the lorries have to follow. Some of the activity I am not sure about. The land does have to be built up, but intriguingly the track of crushed rock continues to grow, and is nicely sculpted.

Two slide shows today. The first is my lunchtime walk along the south footpath on Friday. The second is my visit on Friday evening to photograph progress with in the site. It was late evening, and the sun had just set, so it was very gloomy. I have had to process all the photos to try and increase light levels. This has made some of the photos look quite surreal.

Now onto the photos from my internal, late evening walk. For any readers new to this blog, I must continue to remind people that I have permission to be on this site. It is not a public space.

I was unable to get to Manor farm mid-week to see what was the current infill tactic. Instead I have to rely on memory as to what changes have taken place this last week.

Firstly I immediately noticed a number of square poles, not unlike slender tree stakes, dotted about the site, each with a piece of red and white hazard warning tape fluttering from their tops. I couldn't decide if they were a new form of traffic control or survey marks (if that is the proper term).  Most survey marks tend on construction sites tend to be in the shape of the cross of Lorain.

Walking closer revealed that each had a red band, some 1"-2" (25-50mm) thick, about halfway down the stake, and one was on a pile of soil with the soil level with the band. Only when I was up close did I see the inscription "FINISH LEVEL", followed by a height in metres and a symbol i.e. a horizontal line level with the top of the red band on which rests an upside down triangle.

When I got home and examined the photos, I noticed that some had the the triangle/line symbol (datum ?) on the top of the stake, and that the stake didn't have any red/white tape. These stakes were used where the infill was not yet high enough to have the symbol near the bottom of the stake.

Obviously the land after infill has to be level with this mark.

What I can't yet work out is if the height in metres is the depth of infill OR the resulting height of the land above sea level. I will consult my OS map, once I can find it. A quick research on t'internet suggests that Eversley Cross has a mean sea level of 60m. Finch Pond/Manor farm is a few metres above Eversley Cross.

The two different types of stakes are shown in the gallery below.

Judging by the stakes near the Longwater road entrance, the intention appears to be to raise the land to be almost level with the Longwater road at the entrance. This would certainly keep the proposed car park clear of all but the severest of flooding. To be fair, when the this area did flood earlier in the year, the water in Finch pond, Cormorant lake, etc didn't have anywhere to flow until Inert cut a channel to the culvert. Where upon the water flowed into Fleet Hill farm and caused flooding around the ponds there.  However, the Blackwater breaches its banks there anyway.

Inert have been piling up spoil during this past week to get the height of infill specified by these stakes. They have concentrated their efforts on the north east portion of Finch pond, building up quite a level of soil. Interestingly, they have left a large depression to the north west shore of Finch pond. It's sort of like an enormous sunken garden.

Now, this could either be reed beds (i.e. a shallow area of the new, smaller, leaner Finch pond) or it might be the way I have seen Inert work in the past i.e. they build the edges of the subsequent infill before filling it all in.  Time, as they say, will tell.

They have also not taken the infill any closer to the ridge, but have simply continued to build up the eastern edge. Thus the pile of soil across the track to the cutting in the ridge is now the eastern edge of the infill, with a drop of about a metre.  Though the track is now flooded as water levels continue to rise.

I also noticed that work has been going on around the north side of the copse, particularly around the exit of the fragment of the Colebrook. I didn't investigate this part of the site this week or walk along the south footpath as I was busy with a family event.

Finally, probably part of the surveying effort, I noticed a vehicle had been up the north embankment, and that there appears to be a curious lump of soil deposited on the west ridge next to the Longwater road entrance.

This first slide show gives an indication of how much more the land will be built up around Finch pond. Remember that where I am standing, several metres of infill that has already taken place.

On with the standard slide show.

The five or so hours of rain we experienced on Thursday morning has resulted in the return of my old friend, the mud. Only in isolated places, mind, as the site is still largely bone dry and the soil rock hard. Unsurprisingly, where the mud does occur it is that fine, extremely soft and clinging variety.

I had occasion to drive past the Longwater road at 19:30 on Wednesday evening. With no traffic on the road, I slowed as I passed the Longwater road entrance and glanced to my right to see if there was anything significant to be seen. Blow me if I didn't see the bulldozer driver working away on the north shore of Finch pond.

Blimey, either he is putting in some serious overtime or there really is a big push on to complete restoration of the site.  I have seen people working on the site on Saturdays, but this was very rare.

You will not be surprised to learn, dear reader, that the infill of Finch pond continues apace. The main effort appears to be occurring on the north side, but it is difficult to work out what precisely is going on. There are many random piles of soil sprinkled about, some near the Longwater road entrance, others near the north embankment.  It also appears as if the top surface of the area north of Finch pond has been scrapped off and pushed into said pond - much like what happened on the south shore area.

However, it is hard to tell as there are obvious signs of a lot of lorry traffic. Some it, rather strangely, turning round by reversing into and then out of the Longwater road entrance. Most peculiar as there is a vast amount of turning space.

The whole area is a rather complex series of trackways which the lorry drivers have to keep to - though the entrance to the track that leads to the cutting through the ridge has been blocked off. Again, a behaviour I have often seen during the restoration, to wit an area is worked on for a day or so then abandoned for several weeks or months.

Moving swiftly on to the copse area. There are signs that the bulldozer driver has been working here. The track which wraps round the north of the copse and the area immediately east of it appears to have been extended into Finch pond. There is a lot of fresh soil, spilling into the pond via very steep sided banking.

It is difficult to tell for sure (I was time pressured so didn't stomp on this part) as water levels continue to rise and the recent rain makes old bulldozed soil look fresh.  However, I did notice that one of the huge heaps of soil around the boulder sorter outer (which appears to be still working away) was much depleted.

Otherwise, our Thursday stomp along the south footpath revealed very few lorries trundling around. No doubts due to us walking around a little later than normal, but the number of lorries on the site does vary somewhat.

This whole site is already a very important stop over point for many, many birds. Cormorant lake, particularly the post industrial wasteland, proves extremely popular. There are large flocks of Greylag geese, which I have recently learned to recognise, along with the usual hoard of Canada geese, Cormorants, Mallard, Gulls and Terns, etc, etc, etc.  Swallows and Martins love the abundant insect life in and around the lakes, with large numbers congregating morning and evening.

One particular surprise for me are the huge flocks of Lapwings. I estimate some of the flocks I see flying around to contain 60 or 100 individuals. They, in particular, love the open scrubby nature of the post industrial waste land, particularly the area I call the land mass, the scrape and Cormorant spit (before the latter gets flooded) and also the area I call the mud flats i.e. the east shore of Cormorant lake.

What I found counter intuitive, was that once Finch pond was filled to a certain extent (about half its original size) and the landscape resembled the Somme the more birds it contained; aided and abetted by the numerous small islands that appeared. This in sharp contrast to the almost complete absence of birds when it was one huge lake. Many birds ignore the heavy plant trundling mere yards from where they are, though many wait for the quiet of evening to return. Except on Cormorant lake, where they cover the scrape, parts of the land mass and the mud flats.

I think it's a shame that this post industrial open scrubby landscape will be 'restored' to yet another gentrified set of reed beds, dense woodland and ponds.  We do have rather a lot of this generic nature reserve dotted around the area.  Fleet Hill farm and Moor Green lakes being prime examples.

I hope the big pipe on the mud flats is left. It floats when water levels rise to their normal levels, and often has up to 50 gulls and terns sat on it.  Quite an amusing sight.

I've tinkered with the progress map slightly, but still am unsure as to its accuracy. It doesn't matter hugely in the long run as the final result is what counts. It serves to give a flavour of how much effort Cemex and Inert put in to restoring this site.

Now a slide show part II simply as many are shots from elevated positions i.e. either on the ridge, west embankment or atop a pile of spoil. As I review the shots in detail, something I do not always do, it reveals that my progress maps are really quite approximate.  Roll on the final result!

I thought I'd chuck in some wildlife pictures this week. Mostly I tend to put any wildlife photos onto the RSPB Wildlife forum as I am not sure how many people reading this blog would be interested in them.  However, it is apparent to me how important this whole site has become for wildlife, both local and passing though.

Well, dear reader, a lot has happened over the past week. It is difficult to decide where to start or imagine what I have missed.

Water levels have risen considerably this last week, aided and abetted by the recent heavy rain. With the pump out of action and with more heavy rain forecast, I would not be surprised if water levels reach their normal levels in a couple of weeks.

I wasn't able to get to the proto-reserve on Thursday. Instead I popped down early Friday morning; keeping to the south footpath due to heavy plant trundling around the site. Work was continuing apace on consolidating and extending the infill of the north shore of Finch pond. There were extensive piles of spoil all over the reclaimed land, quite evident from the south footpath.

The bulldozer was hard at work, kept supplied by a fleet of lorries which this time, to my eyes, contained quite a few Inert haulage lorries. They appeared to out number the usual stalwarts: John Stacey. It is possible that this happened in the past, only I never noticed due to the infrequency of visits.

I noticed that the erstwhile iron footbridge had been moved to block lorries turning left too soon after the works bridge. I could be wrong, but I feel that a rubble track has been laid near the works bridge. I'm sure this happened before, and it was all lifted and spread around various other tracks.

In one of last week's photo of the west end of the north embankment, I noticed a dark patch of soil at its base. Quite obviously water was seeping out of the north embankment. I did wonder at the time if this would destabilise the soil. Inert or Cemex were of the same opinion, and so have cut a channel along the base of the north embankment to drain the seepage. The bulldozer had also scrapped a bit of the top of the east part of the north embankment. Just the top to remove nettle stubble. Very curious, and I'm not sure why.

As expected, the contractors had returned to carry on strimming and mowing the rest of the north embankment and ridge; a short top and most sides was administered.  Those side slopes are quite steep. I'm not sure if the men would walk up and down them to strim them.  One method of dealing with steep slopes is to stand at the top, tie a rope to a mower, then let the mower go down the slope before hauling it up by the rope.

I didn't walk the whole way east along the north embankment to see if the east ridge had been mown. It was lovely to be able to walk the length of the ridge without having to fight my way through chest high nettles. Shame this wasn't done three weeks ago. It would have saved me a lot of stings - particularly from the thistles. They are quite vicious when dry.

Moving down to Finch pond. I'm a bit baffled as to why there were two rows of spoil. The bulldozer driver was quite precise in working between the two rows that I saw on Friday - most of which had disappeared by Saturday. There is probably a method to their madness.

Infill and build up of Finch pond continued.  There were a couple of deep holes in places. Not sure why or how they were formed. The little 'inlets' I postulated a couple of weeks ago that would be filled in have dutifully been filled in.

Due to the wetness of late and the heavy lorry traffic, I noticed that some trackways had been beefed up with rubble from the boulder sorter outer.  It, meanwhile, appears to be kept busy, judging by the huge piles of sorted spoil that still surround it.

I am wondering about the south footpath. It has been mown and strimmed to a degree I can't say I've seen before. Perhaps it was done by the contractors who did the north embankment. If so, they also cleared a Willow tree that had fallen across the footpath in the recent gales. The only possible reason I see Cemex authorising this is that this footpath is due to be upgraded to a bridle path. I have no idea if Cemex are funding this. It may have been simple coincidence that the council came round to mow the south footpath at the same time the contractors were doing same to the north embankment.

One small change I did notice took place near the Longwater road entrance. The area has been tidied up. There was a short low bank, that jutted out from the south end of the embankment running along the Longwater road. This has now been cleared. There were a lot of bulldozer tracks around this area.

I have no doubts that much else has happened on Manor farm this last week, which I have not noticed or witnessed. The restoration is moving smartly along, though there is a lot to be done.

Before the slide show, here is an example of what baffles me about the restoration process. Last year Inert cut a channel on the Hampshire side of the reserve. It ran parallel to the road leading to the works bridge, before emptying into the Blackwater. Every now and again it would dribble with water as it drained the Hampshire site.

Two weeks ago, the memsahib noticed that the channel, which was quite small and narrow and had filled a bit, had been widened and deepened. This week she noticed that the channel had been filled in! Here is an image of the widened channel from a couple of weeks back. I didn't bother taking a photo of the filled in channel this week.

No doubts there is some grand plan us mere mortals are unaware of.

I also had a go at the progress map, as I was reasonably unhappy with my efforts thus far.  I've made what I hope is a better stab at the extent of the infill and made it a nice lurid purple colour to stand out more. I've had an attempt at putting in the segment of Colebrook which was preserved (complete with wooden footbridge) in the copse.  The progress map is very, very approximate.

Yet another family event rears its head this weekend. Thus slide shows will appear as and when.

We (the memsahib and I) popped by Manor farm on Tuesday as we had an errand down in Yateley. Inert were, as I suspected, off doing something I didn't expect. Firstly, the bulldozer driver was busily working on the south shore of Finch pond; merrily digging up the land that he had so nicely built up and smoothed earlier in the year. Large gouges had be scrapped and pushed into Finch pond.

Secondly, a couple of contractors were hard at work strimming the chest to head high nettles and weeds on the east and north embankments; continuing the work they started a couple of weeks back.

Saturday's early morning visit showed the top of the north embankment neatly trimmed all the way to the ridge.  Part of the ridge had been strimmed, but, more importantly for me, a digger had neatly formed a ramp up to the ridge. It was quite uncanny for me to stroll along any part of the north embankment without having to fighting my way through nettles and weeds, and then amble up the ramp to the ridge; rather than having to engage in some mountaineering and 'climb' up a steep slope.

Popping down for my jaunt on Thursday, we noticed that Inert had now switched to the north shore of Finch pond, and were (as expected) continuing the infill on that side of the pond. Saturday's extended visit revealed a vast amount of spoil, neatly piled up ready to either be levelled or pushed into the Finch pond.

Walking eastward along the south footpath on Tuesday and Thursday, we noticed the usual plethora of haulage lorries (underpinned by John Stacey) trundling back and forth. Reaching the works bridge, I noticed that the pump was gone again. I'm not sure exactly when this happened. I'm sure it was there on Tuesday. This did happen last year, and like last year the pump had been getting a little noisier whilst chugging away.  Possibly sent off for repairs or replacement?

Needless to say, water levels in Finch pond and Cormorant lake had increased considerably.  Even Cormorant lake north was looking a little soggy. Though there was the tiniest of trickle of water, if that, through the channel between Cormorant lakes north and south.

I did wander down the gravel spit, separately the two afore mentioned lakes. Curiously, the bulldozer driver appears to have simple driven down to its east end, scraping the top surface of gravel as he went. Then dumped the scrapings off the east end of the spit, before trundling back west to the ridge. Very little had actually been done.

It is all rather perplexing, but seems to be the normal modus operandi. No doubts the logic will be revealed as the weeks pass along.  However, I feel the formation of the ramp up to the ridge and the cutting through the south end of the ridge do point to work commencing soon on dismantling the north embankment and ridge.

We noticed a huge amount of activity on the Hampshire side of the site on the two days we walked along the south footpath. We mainly heard rather than saw the activity.

I'm not terribly interested about this side of the site as most of it will be turned into a sporting complex.  A quick squint as we crossed through the gates across the south footpath, seemed to show that the vast hole has been filled in and smoothed over.  A channel that was cut last year, that lead into the Blackwater, has been deepened and widened. I did notice the tractor with water tank filling up said tank with water from a pond on the Hampshire side of the site. This small pond will form the only nature reserve part of the Hampshire site.

Before the slide shows, a very approximate view of progress. I think the new north shore, as I have drawn it, should be further south - especially on the side nearest the Longwater road. The south shore should be a tad further south. If I redraw this progress map, I might use a colour that stands out more, i.e. black or purple or bright yellow.

North and West embankments and the ridge

I'm not sure why the north and west embankments were strimmed. In particular why the top and sides of the west embankment were strimmed, but only the top of the north embankment. Also, only a small part of the ridge was strimmed. Perhaps the contractors ran out of time. Rather curious if they did as they came around on Tuesday. Then again, this is what happened when they first visited the site: they only appeared to have strimmed the west facing slope of the west ridge.

Whatever the reason for the strimming it does look as if Inert are preparing to tackle the embankments in the near future. A prediction which will probably be proved wrong.

For the first time in a couple of months, I have revisited the gravel spit. Breeding season is now pretty much over with. Many birds are beginning to migrate. Inert have started work on the area.

Cormorant lake and the gravel spit.

It has been some weeks since I've been here. Both Inert and I have kept off this part of the site to allow birds to breed in peace. My greatest surprise (last week really when a cutting was made through the ridge) was how dry the area had become, due to a combination of pumping and drought.  Anyway, enjoy the scenery as it is likely to change drastically over the coming weeks and months.

Finch pond.

Now back to the star of our show for the past few weeks. I was only half correct in sticking my neck out last week and saying that Inert would fill in the bit west of the causeway. They have, sort of, started to do this, and continue infilling the large area to the east of the causeway. What surprised me was that they worked on the south shore of Finch pond by dint of scraping off a couple of feet or so and pushing it to Finch pond. In addition, various lorry loads of soil were dumped on the area.  It is just that this whole area was levelled and made smooth some weeks ago.

I do find it quite an eerie feeling walking across the reclaimed land. I have been so used to it being an expanse of water.

It actually rained, dear reader. A fair amount, with the prospect of more to come. Finally!

Even after all the deluge we had overnight the ground on Manor farm was still quite solid. There was no sinking up to my knees in mud, particularly on the freshly bulldozed soil. It was actually quite pleasant to walk on.

With the pump being turned off for the past couple of weeks and the afore mentioned deluge, water levels in the Manor farm lakes and ponds have increased by quite a lot. The south end of the 'causeway' which was totally clear of water last week, is now flooded. That isn't going to help with the infill.

Finch pond jnr II has been filled in, and operations continue to infill even more of Finch pond.

Inert had built a very impressive earth ramp (roughly twice the width of a haulage lorry) along the ridge leading up to the trackway cut across the ridge on Thursday.

Naturally, I took a walk up to inspect it. I was completely surprised to see how devoid of water Cormorant lake north was. I haven't seen it for months, keeping off this part of the nascent reserve during breeding season. I reckon it must have been almost completely dried up, seeing as water levels have risen considerably over the past two weeks. I did not walk along the south footpath this morning to see if the pump had been turned back on.

Our bulldozer driver had driven along the gravel spit that separates Cormorant lakes north and south. he doesn't appear to have done anything else except drive to the east end of the spit and back again. See addendum below.

I shouldn't really try and second guess what Inert will continue with next week. I will, however, postulate that the infill of Finch pond will continue (starting with the long line of soil piles) and that the trackway will be consolidated to allow lorries to trundle along it. This will enable them to deliver spoil to be bulldozed into Cormorant lake (north).

There was abundant wildlife around this morning. Many geese and ducks, plus the odd deer, most totally ignoring me.  A couple of Grey Heron took off from Cormorant lake north, but they are extremely wary birds.

I have been wondering about the ramp and new trackway. All that effort and the lorries having to drive all the way around Finch pond. In my naivety, I would have thought it much more efficient to drop a couple of large sewer pipes into the channel between Finch pond and Cormorant lake, and then cap it with soil from the ridge.  That way Finch pond can still be drained via Cormorant lake south, and the lorries have an easier route to Cormorant lake north. They need only turn right near the former location of the Yellow bridge (now occupied by the boulder sorter outer), and then trundle across the feature I call 'the land mass'.

Of course I might be totally barking. I'm not a civil engineer, and I do not know what exactly is the need for the ramp and cutting.

The memsahib and I took a walk along the south footpath, late Saturday afternoon. One aim of the walk was to see if the Moor Green Lakes renovation and extension had been completed. Sadly no. It has a projected completion date of 4th August.

Whilst photographing a huge flock of Lapwings landing on the north end of 'the land mass', I noticed that the east end of the gravel spit (separating Cormorant lakes north and south) showed signs of bulldozer activity. I reviewed some of the photos I took of this area earlier, and sure enough there appears to be the beginnings of infill. Right now I am kicking myself for not wandering down the gravel spit. It's some pretty skilful driving, but I am perplexed as to where the soil came from.

You would have thought, dear reader, that by now I would have learnt not to try and second guess what area of Manor farm Inert will attack next.  Fully expecting them to fill in the area west of the new 'causeway', they instead build a ramp along the edge of the ridge and then cut a trackway across the south end of the ridge.

I suspect this trackway is to give lorries access to Cormorant lake (north) to allow this lake to be filled in. Naturally, having second guessed what is going on here, I will be proven completely wrong.

Thursday's excursion was taken at roughly 9:15am when the temperature was a rather warm 26 degrees centigrade. No way was I going around the reserve at my usual lunchtime. Temperatures by then were 31 degrees centigrade - it would be even higher in the exposed blistering heat of the nascent reserve.

I do wonder how many of the plant drivers and operators have air conditioned cabs. A fair number of the haulage lorry drivers had their driver side window down. Does this suggest they do not have air con? Poor lads, the dust, temperature and noise were quite extreme.

In many ways I was lucky to capture the digger cutting the trackway. I suspect the digger operator would have finished the work by 11:00am.

The bulldozer driver is often out of his cab directing operations or assessing progress. He's probably the only one who knows what is going on. I also get the impression, perhaps wrongly, that most all the work is done by eye.  I can't see any of the normal surveying guides you see on a building site e.g. bits of wood nailed together in the shape of a cross - much like the Cross of Lorraine.  Perhaps they use some form of satellite positioning?

Oh, I think that Finch pond jnr II has been well and truly filled in.