Month: December 2019

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A Fresh Spin on Bernards Heath, Sandridge Road Wastes and Beech Bottom Dyke

Many people will have noticed that new boards have appeared describing the Heath and Sandridge Road Wastes. The old Bernards Heath boards have been updated and smart new metal frames used instead of wood frames which rotted out. These are formally described as interpretation boards, and they provide a concise account of historical events and industries which once existed on the Heath. Click here for a larger version of the Bernards Heath interpretation boards.

Three boards describe Bernards Heath and three Sandridge Road Wastes (the latter being green areas alongside Sandridge Road).  Beech Bottom Dyke is a huge ditch 1 mile long partially hidden behind trees alongside Beech Road and Firbank Road 7 – 10. The map below shows where boards are located.

Boards 1-3 Bernards Heath, 4-6 Sandridge Road Wastes and 7-10 Beech Bottom Dyke. board 8, is close to the bank of the ditch and approached by a narrow cut though between the houses. Photo: Google maps

Click here for a larger version of Sandridge Road Wastes. There is a small notice board alongside board 6 which is dated 1955 pointing out that parking is not allowed on the Wastes.

Beech Bottom Dyke has four interpretation boards (7-10). The Friends of Bernards Heath have done much (see here , here and here) to make paths alongside and at the bottom of the ditch more accessible.

Click here for a bigger version of the board.

Many thanks to members of the Friends of Bernards Heath, especially RM and PB for their work on the preparation of artwork and content. The Friends of Bernards Heath paid for the artwork and the St Albans City Council the metal boards and their installation.

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New Depression appears on the Lower Field

The depression in closeup is about 2 m wide and 0.5 m deep.

This small depression has appeared on the Lower Field and has been cordoned off. The Fontmell Close sinkhole was probably only 200 m away, although in this case it may be a consequence of the rubbish that was buried in the area.

Depression getting deeper and exclusion zone much extended
The Lower Field, showing the location of the depression. The diagonal mark across the field is the result of the temporary access route used in the Fontmell Close incident.

The field was surveyed in detail in 2015 since it is in the area covered by old clay pits and was the site of a rubbish tip. The company Carter Jonas was involved in the survey and is now in the process of reviewing the ground condition reports for the site.