Year: 2023

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Work starts to refurbish the playground on the Heath

“It is happening at last! The playground is closed for work to begin on its refurbishment.

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Click on an image and use > or < keys to navigate. Click X (top right) to exit.

The target of £100,000 is now just a whisker away, a fantastic effort by the whole community!

With the refurbishment underway, the new playground will be ready in January, well before the Spring deadline. 

Let’s Play at Bernards Heath would like to thank all those who have donated to help make this dream a reality.”

Photos and text: DP

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What a Bind

Invasive bindweed on the Heath


You’ve probably noticed that a plant with attractive trumpet shaped white flowers (see photo left) inhabits many parts of the Heath. It appears between spring and autumn and is called hedge bindweed, or just bindweed and it has a habit of choking other plants by winding around their branches. There is also a smaller form, commonly called convolvulus with white or pink flowers.

Bindweed on the Lower field

These plants can become a menace because they have long root systems not easily removed. They can be controlled by commercial weedkillers containing glyphosate . Bindweed is now well entrenched on many parts of the Heath.

If you have a garden, it is advisable to treat affected areas as soon as possible. Japanese knotweed can also take over areas of ground and we have successfully treated an outbreak.

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Dangerous Tree on the Upper Field

Our Tree Warden, Roger Miles, has spotted that this tree, one of the largest on the Upper Field, has suffered a large crack in its trunk. A branch has now fallen as shown below.

It is a Norway Maple, about half way along the tarmaced path.

The photos below show the original crack, several feet long. It is dangerous to go near the tree which has now been red/white taped off .

The break in the tree, seen from both sides, is shown below.

Two other trees on the Heath, a beech and a cherry have recently lost heavy branches, but in these cases the cause was rot in the in the point where the branch met the main trunk.

The dangerous nature of this tree has been brought to the attention of SADC and now only the stump remains. It was necessary to remove the remaining branch because of its hazardous state,

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Campers leave the Heath

Much to our relief, the campers that occupied two tents in a grassy glade for about four months have now left, but not without leaving a lot of rubbish.

the area occupied by larger tent
contents of tents seem deliberately scattered
the site cleared 8th September 2023, not without a considerable cost

It seems ironic that the occupiers should have chosen to leave just as much improved September weather sets in. We don’t know the area that they used as a toilet, so it is worth keeping clear of the area (see here) for now, especially with a dog.

The council have been informed about the site – hopefully clearance can be arranged soon – it was.

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Bernards Heath 1915 Management Agreement

Copy of 1915 document header.

You can read a copy of the complete document here which is slightly blurred. A recent clear copy is available here.

1915 Management Agreement Commentary

The document here is the “Management Agreement” drawn up by the then St Albans Corporation in 1915 to set out its powers to manage Bernards Heath.  The provisions in the agreement have been turned into local by-laws.

Continue reading “Bernards Heath 1915 Management Agreement”
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Tents on the Heath

Illegal camping on Bernards Heath

Small tents have briefly appeared on the Heath in recent years and have soon disappeared again, although not without leaving rubbish and occasionally a tent.

However, illegal camping reached new levels in May this year when several tents, large and small appeared. Naturally, this was a concern to all users of the Heath, particularly because no toilet facilities exist on the Heath. Two dogs have reportedly fallen ill following exercise in this area. Fires often lit by the campers in the blue tent below are on wooded land present a hazard.

Camping near Heath Farm Lane – click arrow on the right of the image to see more

Camping near Edmund Beaufort Drive

Aerial Photos from Google

FoBH has contacted local agencies to try to get the campers to move on:

In May, nagging for action by FoBH resulted in a police visit. Notes were taken, but no further action was forthcoming.

St Albans District Council (SADC) took legal advice and instructed the tent owners to leave no later than Friday 19th May at 12pm. They did not. The campers in the original tent near the two oaks clearing did eventually move on, leaving a pile of rubbish. This is almost always the case.

In June SADC (which administers the land) contacted the Althorp Estate, asking them to exercise their common law right as the landowner.  No action taken, although Althorp Estate bailiffs have been successful in getting Travellers to move on in the past.

A letter to Daisy Cooper MP resulted in an approach to SADC to see where they are at with the investigation. They have also asked the Althorp Estate to act.

The Althorp Estate is not willing to exercise their common law rights as the landowner, because of a lease agreement between Althorp and SADC.

SADC will continue to explore further ways of removing campers.

Photos: PC, MN

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No Funfair on Bernards Heath

St Albans District Council have reversed their decision to hold the annual funfair on Bernards Heath Upper Field. This follows considerable resistance to the decision from the public and the Friends of Bernards Heath based on the unsuitability of the site.

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High winds damaging trees

Yesterday, 25th June, was not only unusually hot (31°C), but also very windy. Strong winds in summer can easily damage trees when they are in full leaf and it is often local ash trees that come to grief. A large elder branch came down on a well used path near Edmund Beaufort Drive – see photo below.

This path was often really muddy and slippery in winter. To alleviate this , the Friends of Bernards Heath (FoBH) supported improvement work here and also in several places near Heath Farm Lane. St Albans District Council contributed £3,431 and FoBH £1,000. The muddy paths have been layered with grey road scalpings.

The tree damage has been reported to the Council.