Art You See
  • Home
  • What's new
  • Contact
  • RSPB fund raising
  • Longwater Road Nature Reserve
    • Manor farm then and now
    • Fleet Hill farm then and now
    • Scenes from the reserve
  • Exhibitions
  • About
    • Where to buy

Fleet Hill farm: flooding and fencing 21st February 2020

21/2/2020

 
There will be no Manor farm visit tomorrow. Inert were absent on Wednesday, working on Chandlers farm instead.

I hopped over to Fleet Hill farm to check out suspected flooding and to determine what contractors I spied a few weeks back were up to. Well...I was not disappointed with this visit, having not stomped around the site since last summer, when I photographed Dragonflies.

Flooding. Two years ago, I posted photos of 'gullies' cut into the banks of one of the lakes which bordered the Blackwater. At the time I postulated that these were cut by run off from the Blackwater. My supposition was proven correct. There was water still pouring over the strip of land separating one lake from the Blackwater, down through the gullies, over two days after storm Dennis passed over us, and nine days after storm Ciara. The flow from the Blackwater over the banks into the lake must have been quite impressive at the height of the storm. It ran for about 50m to 75m.

I'm not sure where all this flood water is going, but all the lakes were very full. In fact one, next to the Longwater road, had burst its banks. One outcome of all this high water levels, is that many of the crossing points I use to get from the southern most ponds to the middle part of Fleet Hill farm were full of water, at least three feet deep. I only had my wellies on.

The Blackwater appears to have only burst its banks on one lake, towards the west of the site. However, the water, reasonably deep, was flowing over what will be a bridle path which follows the Blackwater.

Before we move on to fencing. I noticed that the kissing gates on the north part of the site, which was across a footpath leading to Finchampstead village, has been removed.  This is rather odd. It was designed to keep horses off the footpath and to prevent motorcyclists entering the reserve. The thing was only fitted two years ago. I wonder if the miniscule number of horse riders had complained about the kissing gate.  Never mind that their horses churn up the footpath to make it almost impassable for walkers, and the fact they are not allowed on footpaths.

On to the fencing. The contractors have put in a whole load of fencing which delineate the public rights of way through Fleet Hill farm.  I have a feeling the fencing is incomplete, especially as there are a number of paths missing e.g. the bridle path that follows the north side of the Blackwater.  In fact, one of the paths which the fencing marks out leads into a field adjoining the Blackwater. Only there is no way out of the field as it has been fenced by horse owners who, I believe, have leased some of the site back from Cemex.

Comments are closed.

    Author

    A polite notice first: All photographs on this blog are owned by me and subject to copyright.

    Also, note that I have special permission to be on the Eversley quarry site of Fleet Hill farm, Manor farm and the Hampshire part, Chandlers farm. They are not open areas for general access.  Please keep to the public rights of way.

    I was quite fascinated to see how Cemex would restore their gravel extractions workings to become a nature reserve, and so started this blog.  There is an ulterior motive. It does mean that my partner and I get some well needed exercise as we stomp around the reserve every week.  Following the progress of the restorations does mean the walk is not as tedious as it might otherwise become.

    Don't worry about one of the archives being November 2025. You haven't entered a time warp! It's just that I've discovered a way to pin a post to the top of a blogger in Weebly; not straight forward apparently.  I have to set the date far far into the future.

    Archives

    November 2025
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • What's new
  • Contact
  • RSPB fund raising
  • Longwater Road Nature Reserve
    • Manor farm then and now
    • Fleet Hill farm then and now
    • Scenes from the reserve
  • Exhibitions
  • About
    • Where to buy