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CHESIL BANK and the FLEET LAGOON
Many of us have become fascinated and intrigued by the Chesil and Fleet area which has become well known to DCV
members this year. We asked Don Moxom, Warden, Chesil Bank and the Fleet Nature Reserve to write for the newsletter and he has conjured up an evocative picture of the spirit of the place . . . .
Apart from a row of tannalised fence posts there is nothing much to tell you that the view from the window
of an old portacabin is associated with the year 2000 . . .
Looking over a scrub covered slope leading to a muddy foreshore, a stretch of shallow water, a bank of vegetated
pebbles and many hundreds of square miles of open sea, this a is scene that must belong to the past.
On the stretch of Chesil Bank opposite there is a particular area of light green vegetation. It is samphire. It
grows there with several plant species - thyme, hedge bedstraw, bird's foot trefoil, a lichen that has spread over the pebbles -
and other species that you would associate with downland but survive in similar dry conditions on Chesil, lying prostrate on the pebbles to survive the stinging winds and salt spray. This plant patch has been known for a number of years, but just how long has it been there?
Dr John Whittaker of the British Museum would be able to tell you much more about this view. He knows, through his
work in examining the 'forams' (microscopic molluscs) and 'ostracods' (microscopic crustacea) preserved in the Fleet sediments that only a few thousands of years ago the view would have been of a series of shingle
beaches off shore before they were rolled into one and that the first Fleet was much longer and wider, stretching up to Burton Bradstock. John, along with other colleagues in the Fleet Study Group, have also
concluded that at one time the Fleet would have been freshwater with a large stand of reed, but not for that long. Apparently the situation changed dramatically to permit seawater to penetrate the Fleet completely,
laying a deposit of marine sands over the peats, and not long after that freshwater found the Fleet again. Throughout this period the beach rolled in reducing the size of the Fleet.
John's paper on this and many others have just been publish in the Fleet Study Group's 3rd symposium volume.
Although £10 a copy, it is well worth the money, there being over 20 papers in it.
There is another sight seen through the window that is not obviously belonging to the past and that is a
wire-netting compound on the beach. It was constructed in the winter of 98/99 to provide a safe area for little terns to breed in. The work was carried out as a part of a project to lure them along the beach
into their former territories by the use of tape lures and decoys. Some of you will have personal experience of the tern fencing on Chesil at Ferrybridge, DCV having been involved for some years now. Sore fingers
and windy wet weather are always associated with this job although the weather was better this year.
Looking closely at the brambles and elders
from the window there is another sight that smacks of recent history. An apple tree and a tangled growth of the Duke of Argyll's tea plant, a fuchsia and other alien plants. This area was in fact a cottage garden some 40 years ago, tended by one of the swan keepers who lived here with his family. Also in the garden is a spring of freshwater below which are a series of concrete lined ponds. The fencing that surrounded each pond has now disintegrated but they used to contain young swans that were being fattened for the table. The cottages were knocked down a number of years ago, but they are still making their presence felt. The pile of stone rubble has now been colonised by oil seed rape and other weeds.
On the Fleet opposite Langton Herring an eel fishermen tends his fyke nets. Eels, at home in sea and freshwater at
various stages in its life cycle have been caught on the Fleet for some while. Have they been present throughout all the changes that the Fleet has undergone, one wonders. Eels are now considered to be under threat
in Europe and the Environment Agency is putting together a national conservation strategy for them. They are not over fished in the Fleet that is for sure - it is too much like hard work for so little money
How does the portacabin fit into the wardening scene to warrant spending time there? Well its at the end of
August. The tern breeding season has finished, scientists and students are giving themselves a break from their research on the Fleet and although there are plenty of visitors to keep an eye on, it is generally one
of the more relaxed times of the year. The window is a very good place to watch the whole of the beach and the Fleet and this is probably why, along with the spring called Holywell, the two cottages were sited here
in the first place.
No swan management exists here nowadays although in severe winter weather the swans are fed nearby. However the
mixture of scrub, the garden exotics and colonies of annual weeds have made the garden an exciting area for birds and insects. At this moment willow warblers can be seen picking up the insects around the rape and a
clouded yellow butterfly floats unconcernedly by. Several rides have been cut through the scrub and in these a few mist nets have been erected to catch the autumn migrants. It is a little contribution towards
collecting data on the nature of this fascinating area.
Richard Barnes, a world saltwater lagoon specialist, has gone on record as saying that if he had to name a lagoon
in Europe that had to be protected above all, it would be the Fleet. There is no doubt about its qualities. It has some pretty unique habitats, communities of plants and animals and very unusual species.
Thankfully there is a lot of interest in the Fleet. English Nature, the Environment Agency, the local authorities
and others assist the Ilchester Estate's management. Other concerns and agencies are involved in particular projects, the RSPB with the little terns for example. Financial assistance comes in various forms.
Currently we are grateful to members of the Chesil Plantform Group who through their millennium Chesil Calendar, have donated several thousand pounds to the reserve. We also are lucky in having a grant from the
Hanson Environment Fund.
From the warden's point-of-view the most important element in the reserve's management are the volunteers drawn
from the local community. They are involved in the Chesil Centre, bird protection, environmental work - particularly dealing with litter, surveys and practical work to support a number of projects. Their skills,
input and enthusiasm, given on a sustained basis, is amazing and there is no doubt about it that the benefits Chesil and the Fleet receive from this are exceptional.
Don Moxom, Warden,
Chesil Bank and the Fleet Nature Reserve
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