Inert preparing to return? Pump is on! Fencing along east side of Manor farm. 25th January 2022

After a massive hiatus, I have returned for a mid week stomp.

Weather was...pants. Cold (2 degrees Celsius), very, very, very overcast; but no wind. Moor Green Lakes carpark was empty when I arrived at 9:10am.

I could here a work crew, banging away, as I walked south along the footpath separating Moor Green Lakes from Manor farm. It wasn't until I got near the bird feeders in the paddock next to Colebrook hide, that I realised it was on man, in hi-viz orange coveralls, installing a fence. At first, I thought he was putting the fence along by the transformer(?) next to the footbridge. There is no fence along this stretch, and people would cross into Manor farm.

However, on my return leg, I realised that the man was installing new fencing along the stretch from the footbridge all the way north to near the Moor Green Lakes car park, and Lower Sandhurst road. That's a couple hundred of yards or so.

The chap was doing this manually! He was using heavy duty fence posts, some about 8" in diameter!

I suspect that Inert are now entering the phase of establishing Manor farm as a nature reserve. As I walked west, along the Blackwater river, I noticed some areas where existing broken down fencing had been cleared and vegetation flattened.

This could be a reserve by this year folks!

There was no activity to be heard on Chandlers farm or Manor farm. When I reached the Bailey, I saw that its road bed was virtually spotless - for a Bailey bridge, used to taking heavy traffic.

The pump was, however, pumping away. This presages, perhaps, the imminent return of Inert to complete the last stages of Manor farm restoration.

I will attempt more midweek stomps to a certain Inert's return to Manor Farm before restarting weekend visits to record progress.