Autumn Action Day 2018
Litter Pick and Spring tidy-up
Autumn Action Day 2017
Well done, and thank you, to everyone who helped with our action day on Sunday, 19th November.
Litter and dumping of various items is a constant problem on the Heath, particularly around seating areas and on the sides of Harpenden Road. We do our best to keep it clear and keep the Heath a welcoming area for public use.
Action days are not restricted to litter picking, and some of us worked on cleaning out the old water tank close to the old Judo Club.The tank was constructed during WW2 for a supply of water in the event of fire, but has since become a container for rubbish and leaves. We made a start on cleaning it out last November and this was the second attempt.
A determined effort revealed that much more rubbish, especially rubble, had been dumped than realised, probably to a depth of nearly 10 inches (25 cm) in one area. More work is needed.
Beech Bottom Dyke tidy up
Sunny weather on Sunday 23 April may have helped us, for about a dozen people turned out to remove litter (see inset) and clear growth around the top of the Dyke. The bluebells made it a picture and their smell was wonderful, especially at the eastern end of the Dyke, near the railway. Only native bluebells smell so strongly. Well done everyone who helped.
Autumn Action Day – Clearance Work at Beech Bottom Dyke
Despite heavy rain on the morning of Sunday 16th October, an intrepid group of volunteers were able to clear large areas of brambles adjacent to the path on the southern side of the Dyke. This clearance work not only makes the the path more accessible, but gives clear views to the bottom of the Dyke. It may also provide more ventilation to the Dyke and reduce its boggy nature at certain points.
Continue reading “Autumn Action Day – Clearance Work at Beech Bottom Dyke”Beech Bottom Dyke Action Day 2
After determined efforts, Friends of Bernards Heath has now opened up the Dyke so that it is possible to walk along the bottom from the entrance near the Ancient Briton junction to the railway embankment, a distance of about one mile. We are very grateful to all those who came along on a last Saturday morning to clear the area from the rifle butts to Valley Road.
Beech Bottom Dyke, Mini Action Day
A slippery steep slope made access difficult during our efforts to clear the bottom of Beech Bottom Dyke, and this has now been addressed by clearing a path near the Ancient Briton Junction. The arrow shows where we started.
For the time being, it is not only the new entrance, but also the only exit, unless you are a mountain goat!
Photos: PC and RM
Beech Bottom Dyke Action Day 1 – FoBH clears the way
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.
Continue reading “Beech Bottom Dyke Action Day 1 – FoBH clears the way”Spring Action Day 2016
Girls to the rescue! A Tesco trolley was just one of the many items recovered or litter collected on our Action Day.
Just look at all this rubbish in the pictures below – there was so much unsightly litter around the Heath, including Beech Bottom Dyke (close to Beech Road), but we had a really nice sunny day to get to work on it.
Move through the photos by clicking right or left keys on your keyboard or on the pictures with mouse/trackpad.
There is much more to be done on the muddy paths, but it’s hard work by hand. See where FoBH has funded improvement work.
FoBH Action Day, Autumn 2015
Our Action Day was positively balmy with warm autumn sun, and it probably helped to bring out a record number of volunteers. When you hear of the comment ‘couldn’t find any litter’, who could hope for more.
Litter picking was was not the only activity – strimming, cutting back and other general maintenance was also achieved.
