including Beech Bottom Dyke and Sandridge Road Wastes
This large ash tree recently came down partially blocking this path to the WW2 water tank, which can just be seen in the background. The tree broke off near the top of the roots, see inset image. Fortunately, it did not fall towards the tank, which is still threatened by a large sycamore only inches away. The Council has agreed to deal with the ash tree.
Continue reading “Ash Trees feel the strain”
This bench, which faces Heath Farm Lane, was badly damaged by an attempt to burn it. Now RM, with help from some pupils at Sandringham School, has done an excellent job of repairing it. The wood is English oak, which is very expensive – it fact it would cost several hundred pounds to make a bench like this, not counting labour.
Unfortunately, there have recently been other incidents of senseless vandalism. Attempts to burn other benches and rubbish bins as well as spray painting – it only spoils the Heath for the majority of users.
Readers may remember that this historic WW2 water tank on the Heath was in a real mess with all sorts of litter, wood and leaves. We made a big effort to clean it out in 2016 and 2017, but inevitably it started to fill again. Now, we are very pleased that someone has cleaned it out as shown in the inset picture. Thank you very much that person.
By the way, the depression inside the tank on the left has been the subject of some speculation – maybe it was designed to extract the last of the water which would otherwise be distributed over a larger area and difficult to pump out.
A group of Travellers appeared on the Upper Field on Friday, 31st May.
Travellers do not enjoy a good reputation in our area since they converted the old Fire Station site into a big fly tipping site in June 2017 and August 2017. It then cost the Council tens of thousands of pounds to clear it.
There were over 20 mostly immaculate caravans on the Heath on June 3rd. Sadly, the occupants didn’t see fit to keep the field in a similar state, for the litter and human waste left behind was dreadful. The travellers failed to vacate the field by 11.59 pm on the 3rd, but did so did the next morning. Fortunately, the Council arranged immediate litter clearance.
Continue reading “Return of the Travellers”
2019 is the 1,350th anniversary of the arrival of St Theodore of Tarsus in Canterbury. This led, via his work setting out the parish boundaries in England, to his stained glass portrait being installed in the east aisle of St Saviour’s church and an excuse for a summer event.
What links this saint with this house?
All be explained on the walk.
After the successes of the Beech Bottom Dyke Heritage Open Day event in 2018 and the walk on the eastern part of the parish boundary in 2017, the Friends of Bernards Heath and the Friends of St Saviour’s are collaborating to put on a free summer 2019 event to celebrate St Theodore and walk parts of the parish’s western boundary – some of which are St Theodore’s work still. We will also hope to see what is happening in this part of the parish in terms of County and District Council plans.
A parhelion or sun dog is an optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the Sun caused by the refraction of sunlight by ice crystals in the atmosphere. There is often a halo as well. In this case there is just one sun dog and no halo.
Peter Burley, local historian, writes: Its historical interest is that a parhelion appeared on another Wars of the Roses battlefield in January 1461 at Mortimer’s Cross in Herefordshire. The Earl of March – the Yorkist commander and future Edward IV – seized the initiative and told his troops that it was a sign from heaven that they would win the battle. They did and the Yorkists adopted a symbol of three suns in splendour for their banners – and this won them a second battle at Barnet (1471) when the Lancastrian Earl of Oxford’s banner of stars was mistaken for the Yorkist suns and the Lancastrian army started fighting itself.
Photo: PB
Not the work of badgers, but holes clearly showing spade marks have appeared in the bank about half way along Beech Bottom Dyke. This earthwork was made to form a rifle butt, or safe bank behind shooting targets, about 160 years ago. The digging may well be the work of someone with a metal detector looking for old bullets or other metal objects.
Since the Dyke is a scheduled is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM), where digging or other modifications without authorisation are against the law, anyone caught doing this would face prosecution. Any suspicious activity in this area should be reported to SADC.
Friends of Bernards Heath tries to protect, preserve and enhance the Heath for the benefit of the neighbourhood as a whole, but sometimes it seems that thoughtlessness and downright theft are conspiring against us.
Anyone who has walked along the bottom of Beech Bottom Dyke will be aware that it can be difficult to get over the bank that blocks the Dyke about half way along its length. This is doubly so when conditions are wet.
To try to make this easier, one of our members has designed a system of hand holds attached to a stainless steel wire (see photo). It was securely attached to a tree at the top and provided an easy way to get up the bank. It was however, not long before the wire was stolen. The wire could not be removed without tools and it is clear that someone must have come fully prepared to take it away.
This is very annoying, considering that much time and effort was put into this to help public access. A rope for the same purpose was also stolen.If you have any information about this theft, please contact the chairman via FoBH mail (right sidebar).
Concept and manufacture: RM
Not content with burning any of the wood lying on the Heath, someone has attempted to burn the wooden cover of an otherwise unsightly metal bin.
Thoughtless vandalism like this detracts from what was otherwise an attractive glade for recreational use.
The result of burning the wooden bin cover
1 Red Dead-nettle – crimson-purple flowers, square stem and pungent smell. Thanks to MB for pointing out that this is not Field Woundwort.
2 Green Alkanet – a member of the forget-me-not family with blue flowers. It is common in damp shady areas.
3 White Dead-nettle – has leaves that look like a common nettle with white flowers, but they do not sting.
More than 20 people, including these young helpers, turned up for our Action Day on 24th March – maybe it had something to do with the weather which was great. Lots of other bags were placed around the Heath for collection too. Thank you everyone who took part.
We didn’t forget Beech Bottom Dyke either, where sticks and other wood was blocking this section of the path. Rampant ivy is a also a problem when it results in trees being toppled – we worked on this too.
