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What does the Friends of Bernards Heath do for you?

The Friends of Bernards Heath (FoBH) believe that the Heath provides an exceptional natural amenity for the locality and the Society exists in order to protect, preserve and where appropriate enhance the Heath for the benefit of the neighbourhood as a whole. Membership provides you with a forum to express your opinions about the Heath and an opportunity to help preserve it for future generations.

We liaise with the Countryside Management Service and St Albans District Council to update the Greenspace Action Plan for Beech Bottom Dyke and Bernards Heath.

This is just a selection of work done by the Friends of Bernards Heath.


Campaigns to protect the Lower Field
from further development


Planned interpretation boards for the Heath, Sandridge Road Wastes
and Beech Bottom Dyke

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July Weather Records

Temperatures

Many parts of the UK broke all temperature records in July, even reaching more than 40°C in Lincolnshire. We measured a maximum of 37°C on the 19th with a hot wind which was especially trying.

Rainfall

Total rainfall only 7.5 mm. This is not a record, but taken with relatively low rainfalls over the previous 5 months, means that there could be a shortage of water.

See Weather History for more details all previous temperature and rainfall data.

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Another cherry tree drops branch in Sandridge Road

In April last year a cherry tree dropped a large branch in Sandridge Road. Now another cherry tree has dropped a smaller branch about 50m away, as shown below.

Police attend branch removal

FoBH Tree Warden Roger Miles says that ‘the original ornamental cherries on Sandridge Road have once again demonstrated that they are at the safe end of their lives’.

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Wars of the Roses

Round shot saved

weight 640g/1.41 lb.

A round shot from the second St Albans  (1461) battlefield has been saved from going into a private collection by the Battlefields Trust and the St Albans and Hertfordshire Architectural and Archaeological Society (SAHAAS).

The round shot was discovered by a metal detectorist in the Bernards Heath area of St Albans in 2014 and displayed at the St Albans Museum in an exhibition in 2016, but it was never returned to its owner after the exhibition. John Morewood, SAHAAS president, tracked it down to a dealer in antique arms in Brighton.

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Storm Eunice savages trees on the Heath

This storm on Friday 18th of February was one of the fiercest in the UK for many years. It took down several trees, mainly on the area to the west of Harpenden Road. The biggest was this near the entrance to Spinney Lane. Luckily, there were no leaves on the trees, otherwise damage could have been more widespread. The tree was blocking Spinney Lane, but has now been cleared.

Fallen tree near the entrance to Spinney Lane from Townsend Drive. Diameter at base 2.5-3 feet.
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