Planting round the pond 2000 (photos)
Planting round the pond 2000 (photos)
November 2000 brought the filthiest weather we have ever experienced in National Tree Week. Our planting day was consequently nasty, brutish and short. All the same, 40 stalwart volunteers turned out and in just 2 hours succeeded in planting nearly 450 young trees in Lingfield Wildlife Area and Centenary Fields.
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The LWA planting was in two places, both of them in the pond and wetland. In the first, shown left, we put in a new double-thickness hedge between the east bund and the Scout Hall. Composed mainly of prickly species like Hawthorn and Blackthorn, this will provide additional protection for the secluded area of the wetland.
It will, in time, also help obscure the view of the Scout Hall. As you can see in the picture, its starkness is not being improved by the efforts of Lingfield's scribes at large.
What the photograph disguises is that it was absolutely sheeting down with rain at the time. At one stage, both my cameras stopped working because they had got so wet. Being made of more durable stuff, the local heroes shown here carried on working through the downpours.
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Here, below, is the other area of planting. At the invitation of Tandridge District Council, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) had inspected the pond in 1999 for risks to people's health and life. They were generally satisfied and made only a few recommendations, which were readily put into practice.
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One RoSPA recommendation was that there be "inhospitable planting" (of prickly species like Bramble and Blackthorn), to discourage access to the more steeply sloping sides of the pond.
Graham Marks supervises proceedings.
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Nearly two years later, in September 2002, all the plants near the Scout Hall are growing strongly. The view is from the end of the fence running alongside the Hall, with the bund on the right.
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