Weed Cutting I suppose that I am very lucky to have a long summer break being a teacher but it is surprising how the time flies when you are busy. I may not have had a typical week looking after the affairs of the Club because I have had quite a few site visits, which are not always possible when I am at work, but the time involved is similar most weeks. The week started on Saturday 14th August 2004. Len, with other volunteers, had cut the weed at Hoon Hay earlier in the week and it had been decided that it was now the turn of Coneygre, Bishop's Pools and Sutton Lake. Len came to my house at 8.00am on Saturday morning and we travelled to Hoon Hay to pick up the boat and other equipment to prepare for an attempt to cut some of the weed at Coneygre. By the time we got back to my place it was noon and we arranged for Len to come again on the Monday morning, weather permitting. Len confirmed at 7.30 am that the forecast was good and that we should proceed as arranged. We arrived at Coneygre at 9.30am in glorious sunshine. The weed was a lot thicker than we thought. We worked really hard for the next eight hours and removed tons (and I mean tons) of weeds from the lake. As we left much more drifted towards the cage at the bottom of the lake and John Smith kindly went the next day to rake even more out. We will have to have this weed treated professionally next season! |
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Willington and Wilne Pool On Tuesday I had a site meeting, along with David Holmes, at Willington with representatives from the East Midlands Electricity concerning the earthing of the new steel poles. This apparently is quite a problem and they wanted to discuss the various ways that it could be done with the minimum disruption to us. I must say that they are very considerate towards the fishing club and have so far been very good with regards to losing fishing due to the overhead power lines. If we keep our finger crossed we may end up with two new car parks for the trout lake depending on which method they choose to use. Wednesday saw me visiting Wilne Pool to complete some measurements for our planning application to extend the lake. Our original plans are apparently too close to the overhead power lines, which I dispute. Whilst I was there I prepared a programme of maintenance for our contractor to complete. This includes hedge trimming, grass cutting and the opening up of swims – I have never known grass to grow so quickly in August before. This is a lovely pool and deserves to be fished more by members. The Derwent is close by and one could combine the two for a varied day's fishing. On leaving Wilne Pool I met the secretary of a fishing club who was looking for a match venue. It just happened that he was looking for the Wilne section of the Derwent as he had booked a match with me for September and he was on a scouting mission. I took him down to the river and tried to assist him by giving hints on where the best pegs were. My two hours had now stretched to nearer four – would the kitchen ever get decorated? Thursday was to be clear until I rang about the paths at Ogston. It was very difficult, especially in wet weather, to reach the water from the checking stations. Due to it being a SSSI we are not allowed to complete any maintenance on this water without approval from Severn-Trent or English Nature and no cutting can be completed at all until the middle of July. Ben, the ranger from Carsington, wished to meet me at 2.30pm that afternoon and it was an opportunity I could not refuse. |
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Stocking Len also rang to say that he had arranged to stock Ogston at 2.00pm on the same day so it was two jobs to complete in the same afternoon. Ben agreed to cut the grass on the paths and to his credit he started straightaway along with his helper James. I left them to it and met James Rotherham and the stocking wagons at the sailing club. Along with other volunteers we stocked with some very high quality rainbows, which should give some excellent sport in the weeks to come. |
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I left them to it and met James Rotherham and the stocking wagons |
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Stocking begins |
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Stocking commences |
A net full of rainbows |
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| Quality Rainbows | |
Routine Stuff During the week I made and received numerous telephone calls on a variety of subjects including boats, canoes, jet skiers, litter, membership applications and maintenance as well as members needing advice. Letters wrote included those written to Erewash Borough Council, the Planning Inspectorate, the ACA, the East Midlands Electricity and to a new bailiff for the River Idle. New memberships for the Idle and Lower Derwent were also completed. I also word-processed a couple of articles for the website that members had sent to me. I nearly forgot the e-mails that were sent to me from members and from the Environmental Agency about the removal of cars from the Lower Derwent – more of this later. It has been a busy but very rewarding week. Next week I am going to decorate the kitchen – unless of course some one rings and wants me to go fishing with them for a change. - Ron Trevis |
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