Five Fascinating Fleet Pond Facts

Michelle Salter writes:

How old is the pond? The first clear reference to the pond was in the 14th century, when “the great fishery (of) Fleet Ponds” is referred to in the Rolls of Account of Crondall Manor. By this time, there seems to have been a thriving fishery of considerable importance and two ponds.

Do any museums house records of the pond? Many Victorian naturalists visited Fleet Pond and references to its flora, in particular, frequently appeared in natural history journals from this era, with herbarium sheets located at the Natural History Museum in Kensington and also at Reading and Oxford.

When was the pond used as an ice rink? In the 1840’s the South Western Railway ran special excursions to Fleet Pond, including a “Skating Specials” in the Winter.

When was the pond, not a pond? In 1940 the MOD completely drained the pond to stop hostile bombers from using it as a landmark to find the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough (see picture above).

What title did the pond receive in 1951? The pond was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1951 and was one of the first sites in Hampshire to receive this distinction, due to the importance of the lake to waterfowl and the rich aquatic and heathland flora.

Fishing At Fleet Pond

Fleet Pond is the largest fresh water lake in Hampshire and the nature reserve has 54.6 hectares (135 acres) of varied habitats for the enjoyment of the local community. The pond itself occupies about half this area. The picturesque 21.4 hectare (53 acre) water was recorded in Saxon times as “Fugelmere” and supplied fish to the monks of St. Swithins (now the Cathedral) at Winchester.

Unfortunately in the past 25 years Fleet Pond has become very shallow due to large amounts of sand silting it up, with a depth of only 16″ right across the pond. Fishing and boating is allowed during the period between 16th June to 14th March. Fishing is only from 6 swims (namely, particularly good places for fishing) along the railway bank and one at the bottom of Chessnut Grove Rd. All the platforms have recently been given a facelift and provide improved comfort thanks to the Fleet Pond Ranger!.

Typical fish stocks are: perch and hybrids up to 2lbs, tench up to 4lbs, bream up to 5lbs, carp up to 10lbs, roach and rudd up to 11.5 lbs and pike up to 18 lbs.

Picture: Common Carp, credit here.

To fish at Fleet Pond a permit from Hart District Council is required. These are available from the reception desk in The Harlington Centre, or ‘Tackle Up’ on Fleet Road. Also required is an Environment Agency rod licence which is available from the Post Office or the Environment Agency website. Fishing is only from a boat or an approved fishing jetty, site by-laws apply.

The top picture is taken from an article in The Independent in March 2008, which includes the interesting statement that “If your home is where Hart is – well, lucky you. It is a tranquil corner of Hampshire where the statistics suggest that the quality of life is higher than anywhere else in the country”.

Please also see here.

Ranger’s Notebook – Tern Islands

Joanna Lawrence, The Fleet Pond Ranger, writes:

Earlier this year, Fleet Pond Society and Hart’s Countryside Service together purchased two tern islands. These artificial islands, made from 100% recycled plastic, provide the terns who visit the Pond with somewhere to nest.

Common terns (pictured above, picture credit here) are summer visitors to Britain and the rest of Europe, spending winters in the tropical regions of West Africa. They arrive here in April to breed, and feed on fish and crustaceans.

The islands at the Pond are filled with gravel which the terns create small depressions in, line with soft material, and lay their eggs. The clear plastic walls around the island prevent any predators getting to the chicks.

The good news is that these islands have already been used this summer by a few pairs of terns, despite only being put out on the Pond in June. This is very encouraging news means that next year we expect even more of these birds to be using the islands to rear their chicks.

An Admiral At The Pond

Peter Martin writes:

There was a considerable reduction in the number of butterflies normally seen at Fleet Pond Nature Reserve in 2007. With the cold, dull, wet and windy weather, the number of sightings in 2008 has not been much better. Mid-October has produced a few warm and sunny days, however, resulting in the appearance of a number of Red Admirals (pictured above, picture credit here).

Until recent years the autumn brood was normally killed off by our hard winters but milder weather has enabled some butterflies to survive. Last year, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Branch of “Butterfly Conservation” had records of them being seen in all twelve months of the year, so keep your eyes peeled if you are walking round the Pond and you may see them even during the winter.

Some other members of the Nymphalidae family of butterflies such as the Peacock, Comma and Small Tortoiseshell hibernate during the winter months, but may be encouraged to wake from their slumbers if we get some reasonably warm, sunny days. These and the yellow Brimstone butterflies may also be seen within the Reserve during the winter months.

Peter Martin is the President of The Fleet Pond Society and is a local expert on butterflies. Peter will be providing a series of ‘Butterfly of the Month’ articles from April to September next year.

Further information on butterflies can be found here.

Ranger’s Notebook – Restoration of Habitats

Joanna Lawrence, who is the Ranger for Fleet Pond, writes:

Hart Countryside Service has recently been carrying out heathland restoration at Fleet Pond as well as restoring a valuable area of marsh and reedbed. Local Contractors JDB were at the Pond for a week in September carrying out the important work.

Large areas of heathland, marsh and reedbed have been lost at Fleet Pond due to the encroachment of trees and scrub. In the marsh, the restoration process involved getting rid of the dense scrub and then scraping the top layer of soil off to expose the dormant seed bank underneath.

Previous scrapes in the marshes have been very successful with some plant species that have not been seen at Fleet Pond for 30-40 years reappearing. By next spring/summer, this newest area will have more of these important species growing on it, some of which are rare in Britain or are internationally threatened.

Picture: Lesser Water Plantain, one of the rare plants in the pond marshes.

The scraped area on the dry heath will also have new shoots of heather and other heathland plants pushing through the soil by next summer, further extending this valuable and rare habitat.

Fungi Alert! What Is This?

Michelle Salter writes:

There is some wonderful fungi to be found nestling in the undergrowth and growing on trees at this time of year. Walking around the pond this afternoon, I noticed lots of small, purple-coloured fungi growing amongst the leaf litter, particularly along the path by Coldsteam Wood.

Can anyone identify it?

Michelle is the Secretary of The Fleet Pond Society.

Please use comments box below to provide feedback – we’d like to hear from you!

October 12th – Before and After

Pictures taken at the volunteering event for October 2008. Quite a difference!

Volunteer Spotlight – Binz Chapman

The first volunteer spotlight is on Binz Chapman. The photo was taken at the volunteering event last Sunday.

In his own words:

“I am one of the regular volunteers with Fleet Pond Society (FPS) and have been working with them for about 3 years. Born and raised in the Weald of Kent, I spent a lot of my childhood out in the local countryside, climbing trees, playing in streams and generally coming home wet and muddy.

I first got involved in conservation in my twenties, when I joined one of BTCV’s (previously The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) mid-week volunteer teams during a period of unemployment. That’s when I caught the bug for conservation work, it gave me the satisfaction of doing something positive in my life and put me back in touch with the simple childhood pleasure of being in nature.

I now volunteer with both the FPS and also a local Hampshire Wildlife Trust group near my home in North Warnborough. Both have given me a greater knowledge and appreciation of the countryside and wildlife around me.

As well as the practical benefits that volunteering brings to the local environment, my employer provides a ‘matched giving’ fund which means that for every hour I spend volunteering they make a financial donation to the charity involved. In my current career (I’m an environmental consultant for a multinational oil company) I spend nearly all my time in front of a computer screen in an office complex with another 4000 of the company’s employees. It’s great to escape from that corporate culture, to be with nature again and to share time with like minded people.

A couple of years ago I decided that as well as working on local reserves I wanted to take on my own conservation project and that led to the purchase of a small woodland in Kent. This was neglected coppice which is now being managed to increase biodiversity, but also provides firewood, a weekend escape and another excuse to be a child again. For more info on that wood, please visit the Ewar Woowar blog”

Update:

This article has been selected to appear in the News section of the BTCV (formerly The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) website – see here.

Volunteer Event This Sunday!

Fleet Pond Society organises and runs a series of volunteer conservation activities at the Pond (programme for 2008/09 is here).

The next conservation task is this coming Sunday, October 12.

If you have never been before and fancy trying it, please just turn up (details here) or else give Colin Gray a call on 01252 616183, who will be delighted to provide additional information.

Speaking from personal experience, new volunteers are made very welcome and there is a very nice friendly atmosphere overall. Tools and advice are available – you even get tea/coffee and cakes in the mid-morning break!

Interestingly the volunteers have a very wide range of ages, backgrounds and interests. To give a flavour of this, we will occasionally provide ‘spotlights’ on volunteers to explain their motivations for getting involved and what they get out of it.

Hopefully this will be an additional motivation to readers of the blog to come along and give it a go – it’s a very rewarding way of spending a Sunday morning!

Ponies At The Pond

Four miniature Shetland ponies are grazing in the East Marsh just below the picnic area (please see previous post for map and recommended walks, all of which pass the picnic area).

The ponies names are Benson (pictured above) and (in the picture below and going from left to right): Venus (black), Andy (light brown) and Squibby (dark brown). Benson is the ringleader (and quite a character), Venus is the only female and Andy is the youngster in the pack.

Apart from providing a lot of interest to passers-by they have also done a grand job in keeping the vegetation down over the summer!

Whilst it may possibly be tempting to feed them, please don’t! They have plenty to eat in the marsh and eating carrots, apples or (heaven forbid) bread can easily make them ill, requiring them to be returned to Miller’s Ark, from where they are on loan. Miller’s Ark Farm is based at Roke, near Odiham.

The rather barren and muddy area in the above photo is actually being restored back to heathland by a process known as scraping. This involves removing the top layer of nutrient rich soil so that heathland plants can thrive in their preferred low nutrient soils. Scraping has been carried out in other areas on the heath and has been highly successful. There will be more on this in future posts.

Update:
Vicki Jull writes:
On October 9 the miniature Shetland ponies were returned to Miller’s Ark after spending the summer at Fleet Pond. Joanna Lawrence, the Fleet Pond Ranger, and myself would like to thank everyone for keeping an eye on them as well as the Belted Galloways, Murray and Jessie (when they were on Wood Lane Heath). We will be in touch again next year to let you know any animal arrival dates so you have plenty of time to see them.

Vicki is a Volunteer Looker Coordinator, reporting back to the Rangers observations from regular walkers who check the condition of the grazing animals, whether they have enough water, what they are eating and any other points of interest.