including Beech Bottom Dyke and Sandridge Road Wastes
In the early morning of Friday 17th October a large tree fell across Harpenden road, between the Old Harvester and the Pioneer club. The council cleared the tree quickly, but our FoBH chair took the below photos for us.
This is a timely reminder that the heatwaves and lack of rain this year has put trees under stress. Please be aware of this as you enjoy the heath this autumn.
A great example of how your membership looks after our green spaces.
The WWII water tank near the old fire station was vandalised over the summer. Sadly, two fine oaks in a heath clearing nearby were also graffitied with lightening bolts over the summer.
Both of these have now been cleaned by FoBH volunteers. Huge thanks to our local members looking out for their local space. As you can see from the pictures below, the work took extensive scrubbing!
FoBH members report a large branch has fallen across National Cycle Route 6 – the path running between the school sports grounds and Harpenden road (pictured top).
There was also a branch across one of the paths near the old WWII water tank. The FoBH chair managed to shift it! (Pictured below.)
Please be alert for any other fallen trees or branches and do let us know so we can report them. chairman @ bernardsheath.org
Friends of the Heath report that the path along the bottom of Beech Bottom Dyke (BBD) is blocked by a large tree. The Friends do work hard to keep the paths in BBD, and across the heath, open. However, this job is too large for the Friends to manage and has been reported to the council.
A substantial brach has fallen from an Ash tree and is blocking one of the paths off Spinney Lane. The branch fell during the weekend of the 12th & 13th July and has been reported to the council.
Please let the FOBH know of any ongoing access issues.
The local air ambulance landed on the upper field of Bernards Heath on the 13th of July to attend a collision on Harpenden Road.
Locals directed them to the scene, and Harpenden Road was closed in both directions. Sadly, it appears to have been a pedestrian vs car requiring the attendance of numerous emergency vehicles
Police are asking anyone with dash cam footage in the area at the time. The HertsAdvertiser reported: “PC Ryan Moore from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Road Policing Unit, said: ‘Our enquiries are continuing, and I am urging anyone with information to please get in touch.’
“’Were you driving in the area at the time and saw what happened? Additionally, if you have a dash cam fitted and were in the area, please check it as you may have recorded some crucial footage to assist our investigation. If you also saw the orange Aygo prior to the collision, please get in touch.'”
If you do have any information, you can stay 100 per cent anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.
The Friends are happy to take questions about, and report incidents regarding, the heath, dyke and wastes to the council. Residents can now also report incidents directly to the council when logged ino the their account on the SADC website.
FoBH chair, David Pearce, noted that this is a useful tool as “local can check to see whether the incident has already been reported by someone else or to obtain an update”.
