December 2023 News

Badgers Wood tidy up

Unfortunately the weather put the mockers on the mega strim on 18 November with torrential rain putting paid to any proposed work. However a couple of us have been back since and we have completed almost half of the strimming. We have a dedicated team who will be responsible for managing Badgers Wood, George Cragg and Electricity pond and in view of the progress we have made we should be able to get the rest of the work completed before Christmas, so there will be no need for a special event. 

Decoy

As a parting gift to the club some of the previous maintenance team carried out one last job at Decoy. As you may have seen the causeway has subsided and whilst the long term solution would be to pile the entire causeway (extremely expensive) we had to do something urgently especially as the causeway is a Public Footpath. The plan was to employ a man with a digger but unbeknown to us he was otherwise engaged. We only found this out after we had arrived at Decoy on the morning of the work party but rather than waste the day we decided to see what we could do by hand. As we had no digger we had to think outside the box. We reused the existing wood and some of the steel mesh that was scattered around the carpark to create a barrier to hold back the bank. After it was back filled it was pretty solid so, for now, the causeway is safe but this is only a temporary fix .

Other Maintenance issues

As mentioned in the previous news letter we would like to change the way the waters are maintained  and bailiffed and have split them into four groups.

1. Badgers wood, George Cragg and Electricity pond
2. Decoy and Oldmans
3. Masons and Wildings
4. River Adur at Wineham, Cemetery wood plus Frylands ponds

We already have a team looking after Badgers Wood, George Cragg and Electricity pond and two of our members recently carried out tree removal work at Decoy. The Decoy team consists of two members so if you are interested in helping at Decoy and Oldmans please contact Dave Harper or Nigel Jackson.

Also if you are interested in getting involved at any of the other waters please contact any member of the committee.

One last point with regard to maintenance. The dam between the two lakes at Wildings is starting to subside because of the massive undercut beneath the dam/causeway. Following a meeting some time ago that the owner arranged with a local surveyor and the Environment agency we had hoped that the causeway would be reinforced to prevent it being breached. The owner is aware of the latest development but as this is out of our hands all we can say is, please check the website for updates. 

100 Club

The November draw was won by Martin Kenwood and December by Sally Pead. Congratulations to you both.

It just remains to say that the Committee wishes all our members a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.