Five hour heavy rain. Inert build more banking. Part 4. 28th August 2022

This section covers the southern part of the site, principally Manor lake.

I must admit to be disappointed at what Inert have a achieved this week. They seemed to be going like the clappers on Tuesday. I fully expected them to have completed the banking between Manor lake and the Main Reed beds.  They hadn't made much progress since my Tuesday visit.

There may be any number of reasons for this. They may have actually done a lot more than I realised e.g. spreading topsoil over most of the area, possibly fettling more than I could possibly appreciate.  They may also have taken some leave, this week.  It is a bank holiday weekend, with marvelous weather - not too hot or cold, no rain (depending on where you go), and the last hurrah before school starts.

Work has been done. A line of spoil dumped awaiting bulldozing to form the banking between Manor lake and the Main reed bed. But I am hard pressed to figure what else, really.

I know I sound like a stuck record, but I feel the mighty Finch pond and Cormorant lake should have been left as large, deep bodies of water, rather than being filled in. They can stand drought conditions far better than their shallow replacements.

Predictions are that British summers will become drier and hotter, with the heatwaves we had this year being the norm.

It is possible that there will be sufficient runoff from the Finchampstead Ridges to keep the new, shallow Finch pond and Manor lake topped up, but it would have been so much easier to have left Finch pond and Cormorant lake as they were.  The area I called the Land mass, plus the land along the southern edge of the site, could have made excellent wetlands.

On the other hand, plans for this site were drawn up a long time ago. Perhaps as much as 20 years. A lot has happened to the climate in that time.