Category: Maintenance

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Beech Bottom Dyke Action Day 1 – FoBH clears the way

Will secateurs and loppers do the job? Maybe we’ll need something more serious!

Friends of Bernards Heath made a big effort to start clearing paths at Beech Bottom Dyke on Saturday morning.  Thank you everyone who took part.

Where, and what is Beech Bottom Dyke?  It is a major pre-Roman ancient earth work that begins at the junction of Townsend Drive and Batchwood Drive and runs for the first part parallel to Beech Road, then on across Valley Road to the railway embankment.  The Dyke is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM) under the protection of Historic England and owned and managed by St Albans District Council.  The Google aerial view below makes the prominent part of the location clear and shows where we carried out path clearance work.  Read more about the Dyke here.

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Remedial works on the Lower Field

Work started this week to restore the Lower Field. The photo on the left shows how it looked after the Fontmell/Bridle Close sinkhole episode and the photo on the right shows how things are beginning to look now.  Photos: MN Peter Bone, Senior Surveyor – Public Sector Services, Lambert Smith Hampton writes:

I should like to let you know that remediation works to the area of ground that was disturbed by the original temporary access route to Fontmell Close and Bridle Close will be commencing next week. The works will comprise levelling of the rutted areas and cultivating the topsoil ready for grass seeding.

The reinstatement area will need to be temporarily fenced off with cones and tape whilst the works are carried out, and the fencing will be left in place after the area has been seeded to give the new grass a chance to establish itself. The advice we have on that is that it would be best if the reinstated area could be left for the grass to re-establish the root system until May 2017 if possible. It would therefore be helpful if you could help to let users of the field know that a period for the grass cover to regenerate itself will be beneficial in the longer term.

We are also arranging for other works such as grass cutting, weed spraying,  and a tidying-up of branches across the larger field area.

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Access to Interpretation Boards

A quick strim of cow parsley has improved access to the interpretation board in Townsend Drive, which provides an excellent succinct history of the Heath. This board and the two others in Harpenden Road and Sandridge Road were installed by the Friends of Bernards Heath.  The boards are now beginning to show signs of weathering and replacements are being considered.

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FoBH funds path improvements

Mud glorious mud – if you’ve walked the paths on the Heath recently you’ll be well aware of this kind of sight where paths become a glutinous, slippery mess.

Having recently organised and part funded a new path extension to the Ancient Briton, FoBH has now brought in the same contractor to improve access to the west of Harpenden Road. The aerial view below shows where work has been done, especially between Edmund Beaufort Drive and Spinney Lane. Hopefully, this will make the latter an all-weather path, rather than the mire it was recently. The full extent of paths in this area is not shown.

Unbroken white lines show where paths have been resurfaced.
Paths were excavated to a depth of about 10 cm and filled with crushed road scalpings,

The entrance to the longer path from Harpenden Road. More work is needed on this section

On this occasion budget restrictions have not allowed  St Albans District Council to support us financially even though it was agreed that the need to improve this well used amenity was very great. Therefore, following a resolution at our recent AGM, FoBH has met 100% of the cost from members’ subscriptions.

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Objects left on the Lower Field

Friends of Bernards Heath met with representatives of St Albans District Council and councillors Roma Mills and Richard Curthoys to review the current condition of the Lower Field. The new road across the field from the old fire station works well, but many objects have been left, seemingly at random, which make the area look untidy and in some areas, dangerous. It is hoped that contractors will be able to tidy up in the near future.

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Paths on Bernards Heath

The wooded area of Bernards Heath includes an extensive network of well used paths. As many will know, several of these paths are now very muddy and slippery.  They seem to be particularly bad this year, perhaps because rain has fallen with almost daily regularity in December and early January.  The paths then have little chance to dry out.

Friends of Bernards Heath has been improving the paths over several years, the cost being shared with St Albans District Council. The longest, a new path extension to the Ancient Briton. 

The paths have been dug to a depth of about 4 inches/10 cm and refilled with crushed road scalpings or planings. The resulting surface is much firmer than the muddy areas and drains more easily.

The sections may not always be apparent because of debris falling onto the path, but the image below shows clearly where the path surface is much improved beyond the lower muddy area.

We hope that the Council will continue to support us in our efforts to make the Heath a more enjoyable place to walk.

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Temporary closure of Children’s Play Area

To supplement the survey work that Hertfordshire County Council  has carried out on the land it owns at Bernards Heath, St Albans City and District Council has similar survey works underway on adjacent common land that it manages. 

To supplement the survey work that Hertfordshire County Council  has carried out on the land it owns at Bernards Heath, St Albans City and District Council has similar survey works underway on adjacent common land that it manages.  While this work is underway, the playground will be closed from Monday 21 December for a short period. The Council will open the playground again as soon as possible.

Richard Shwe
Head of Community Services,
St. Albans City & District Council

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Fontmell/Bridle Close access update

While the unresolved problem of the sinkhole, or crown hole, has been less prominent in the news of late, activity has been focused on access for residents of Fontmell Close and Bridle close. It is still a very muddy, but at least residents have been connected to essential utilities. A shuttle service truck is shown alongside.

Access on foot has been improved by the extending the footpath from the children’s play area to the end of Bridle Close, but rain has made vehicular access a real problem.

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FoBH clears paths and removes hazards

Even at this time of year, small trees do come down on the Heath and block paths. Unfortunately, St Albans Council do not see this as a priority so they are often left for some time. A member of the Friends of Bernards Heath cleared this path as it has been blocked for some time.  There may be hazards lurking in the long grass as well.

path blocked
path cleared
hazardous metal nearly 1 ft overall

Photo: RM