Reviving the Rye Brook with the Lower Mole Partnership’s conservation crew
The Lower Mole Partnership’s conservation crew have been back on Ashtead Common, helping to restore parts of the Rye brook. Targeted scrub management along the banks of the Rye at this time of year supports improving the biodiversity of the wetland by letting in more light. The first busy task week took place in mid-October and the countryside volunteers cleared scrub from beside a path and built an impressive dead hedge to discourage dogs from parts of the wetland area. The regular team were pleased to be joined by a small team of employees from Surrey County Council’s Strategic Transport Group on one task day as well.
The Lower Mole Partnership’s friendly crew will be back in action again on site in November, so why not come along and enjoy a countryside volunteering day with them too. Scrub clearing is a great, green workout in this glorious setting and is an ideal task to try if you are new to conservation volunteering. Please visit the Lower Mole Partnership’s website for further task information and their contact details.
This work is supported by the City of London Corporation through a grant awarded to the Lower Mole Countryside Trust, the registered small charity partner of the Lower Mole Partnership. The grant is from the Enjoying Green Spaces and Natural Environment funding scheme, which is for projects that make an impact on the City of London Corporation’s glorious green spaces.
ACV help to deepen Shaun’s puddle
Halfway up Concessionary Ride 1 there is a depression in the ground measuring 8 x 5 metres. This feature was created seven years ago after clay was excavated to allow a 50cm top up and re-profiling of the ride’s surface. The ride has a pipe underneath it which allows rain run-off to travel from the other higher side of the ride into the depression, allowing it to fill up. It is not a large water feature, in fact one of the Ashtead Common volunteers undertook to place a sign beside the hollow humorously naming it “Shaun’s Puddle” after Ashtead Common’s Senior Ranger!
In a usual year the “Puddle” fills up in winter and just about stays wet during the summer until the autumn rains return, however by June this year it had dried up. At risk of loosing this vital (albeit temporary) wetland habitat, up stepped the Ashtead Conservation Volunteers for a climate change resilience project – also known as digging in the mud! The team spent a back-breaking day creating a new bund by removing a spade’s depth of clay from the centre of the depression. The clay was then placed and ‘puddled’ around the lowest edge of the area. With a deeper centre and taller edge, and with the bund set further back, more water will be allowed to pool, giving it a much better chance of surviving through a hotter summer with water still available for wildlife.
