February 9th 2013

Ascomycete Fungi of Chasewater

Following his work at Biddulphs Pool, Peter Thompson is continuing to provide valuable and fascinating information regarding this commonly overlooked group of organisms. Peter is now focusing on the broad variety of habitats found at Chasewater and a list of the species he has so far identified can be found via the link on our species page here. Peter intends on building this list with future visits and we will update the information. The rarest of the species he has identified at Chasewater so far is Lasiobelonium variegatum, which has not previously been identified in Staffordshire. Thank you to Peter for sharing this valuable information

February 2nd 2013

The following monitoring data was taken on January 28th and has been provided by Staffs CC.

• The reservoir level has risen 25cm in the last three weeks and now stands at 151.61m (0.52m below the overflow and 21cm above the Pool Rd culverts).

• The reservoir has risen 6.43m in the last 12 months

• The water level is now 0.49cm above the Causeway invert, so Jeffries Pool is now filling as part of the main reservoir.

• V notch B downstream of the dam is nearly at its recorded highest level due to the reservoir being at its highest level at 108 l/min.

• Flow through the sheet piles is at its highest level marginally at 60 l/m

• V notch C in the canal basin has increased a small amount at 27 l/min but this has never changed significantly.

• The embankment was inspected and there was no evidence of seepage on the embankment at the toe or on the surface.

The reservoir now has an increased surface area, with Jeffries Pool rising as the same level at the main body of the reservoir. This has slowed the rate of rise during this month to an average of 8cm per week. It is estimated that the reservoir will be completely full in mid-March if weather patterns remain similar.

GE

January 25th 2013

Ascomycete Fungi of Biddulphs Pool

Amateur mycologist Peter Thompson has kindly provided a list of ascomycete fungi detected at the Biddulphs pool area to the North of Chasewater. His studies have revealed rarely recorded British species and uncovered a new British record. The list can be seen via the link on our species pages located here.

June 3rd 2012

Little Ringed Plovers

At least 12 pairs of these specially protected 'Schedule 1' breeding birds have attempted to nest this year on Chasewater's shores. None of them have yet been proven to have been successful, unlike last year when broods started to appear by May 13th. Several pairs are obviously trying for second clutches having failed with their first attempts. Of course, the weather may be an important factor in this situation but has anyone reading this been aware of any official attempt to inform the public or protect the birds in any way? It seems that the disputes continue as to just who is responsible for the care of these birds. I imagine the discussions go something like this:

 Council A - They are here because of the low water levels caused by the works on the dam, therefore it must be your issue to solve.

Council B - We have put you in charge of site management till April 2014, so it is your responsibility to care for these rare birds.

Meanwhile, up to 35 people and 7 dogs can be seen at any one time 'innocently' walking over the birds' nest sites and just to rub salt into the situation, scramble bikes regularly race around the 'Island' only feet away from a Lapwing's nest and three Little Ringed Plover territories.

GE

Anglesey Wharf

Yet again, it's great to see Brownhills Bob being so fantastically enthusiastic about Chasewater's history and I recommend everyone to click here to read about his investigations. It reminded me that I haven't updated the Website's pdf files of the Chronology for rather a long time and I thought it would be a good idea to at least copy below the updated version of the period Bob is currently investigating. There is so much to add, clarify and correct so please feel free to offer your ideas and knowledge so that we can build up a true picture of our fascinating heritage.

June 1st

Water Levels

 A couple of weeks ago I received a very informative email from Ali Glaisher the Principal Ecologist for Staffs CC. She told me that they receive water level monitoring data weekly from URS/Scott Wilson and the latest data was that the reservoir was at 147.27 AOD on Monday May 14th and rose 20 cm in the preceding week. From April 2nd to May 7th the rise was 1 metre 33 cm.

So I wasn't too far out with my calculations. The water levels are now approaching the ends of the concrete slipways the Sailing Club and Water-ski Clubs built during the low water levels of 1957 (147.5m AOD in September), so we're just about at 'living memory' levels. I was only 3 years old at the time but there must be someone out there who remembers this time and perhaps took photos of the event.

This report is from the Advertiser on 12th October 1957, when Chasewater was starting to fill up from the exceptionally low levels during the summer.
Here is a copy of an article from the Express and Star for 21st August 1976
The water level is currently around a metre lower than that shown in the photo which was recorded at the time as being 3.75m below the level of the weir which was at 152m AOD. It fell a further 25cm during September before rising 1.25m by the end of the year. The photo also shows the line of smoke on the North Heath from the devastating fires that were ravaging much of our local heathland at the time. Somehow the E&S forgot to mention it!

GE

May 7th

Water Levels

I'm sure the water-levels are being officially monitored but, by various means, I have made my own measurements and calculations. Assuming the water-level established in March 2011, was at 144m above sea-level (i.e. that of the canal), then the figures run something like this:

September 14th 2011, after a dry summer, levels had dropped by another 30cm to 143.70m

November 1st - 143.83m

January 1st 2012 - 144.30m

February 6th - 144.67m

March 3rd - 145.20m

April 13th - 145.45m

May 7th - 146.65m

So there's been a rise of nearly 3m over the past year and over a third of that has been during the last 3 weeks! There are 5.35m to go before the lake is full.

The scale at the end of the pier starts at 148.35m, so there's only another 1.70m to go before we'll have a better ability to monitor the situation. We are now less than a metre away from the levels experienced in 1957, (just after Brownhills Council had taken on Norton Pool and renamed it Chasewater) and around 1.5m away from the lowest levels of the 1976 drought. A record wet winter actually filled the lake by May 1977, so if the current weather continues you never know!

Little Ringed Plovers

Although the poor weather and work commitments have prevented a thorough survey of the Little Ringed Plover numbers this year, it would appear that there are at least 10 pairs attempting to nest. However, with the extent of the shoreline continuing to shrink with the rising water-levels, the pressure put on them by both people and dogs is greater than last year. The three pairs on the South Shore are being constantly disturbed, resulting in potentially long periods off the nest during unseasonably cold weather conditions.

I've seen no warning/information signs around the site so I presume a blind eye is being turned to the situation by the current site managers.

GE

March 4th

I seem to have missed all sorts of goings on over the past couple of weeks due to a serious attack of work! I popped over to the Nine-foot area today to see what progress has been made and take a few photos but there is little point in saying a great deal since a click here will give you a great insight into what's been going on! Thanks Brownhills Bob - at this rate it'll be Easter by the time I can catch up! One thing I can say is that the water level has risen 1.5m since last September but only 1.2m since the end of last March, as the very dry spring and summer caused levels to drop by 30cm. At least we seem to be in a rather unsettled period for a few days and the dry trend may be changing. Surely it can't be as dry as last spring when only 3.4mm of rain fell in April! Don't forget to check the wonderful Hammerwich Weather for details.

GE

On February 15th the latest posting was made on the Chasewater Dam blog and it coincided with an article on BBC's Midlands Today. It appears to be in the form of a press release and repeats what has been said before. Unfortunately it is written in the style of a tabloid paper and contains what can only be regarded as deliberately misleading nonsense which I'll try to translate a sentence or two at a time.

A Hard Task!

More than 100 tonnes of concrete is to be poured into Chasewater Reservoir to help support the 200-year-old dam. The concrete will help control the flow of water when the reservoir is full. Repairs to the reservoir’s drawdown culvert (or plughole), have also been carried out.

Translation: Over 100 tonnes of concrete (about 40 cubic metres) will be used in the casting of the weir and the completion of other works in the Nine-foot area at the south end of the dam. The apparently rather over engineered structure will only be put to use when the lake is full, on average once every 2-3 years, but health and safety regulations demand that the dam and weir have to be able to withstand a one in 10 000 year flooding event.

County councillor Mark Winnington said: “This is the last major milestone in what has been a hugely successful and high profile project to restore one of the most popular country parks in the Midlands to its former glory.

Translation: We are now approaching another milestone in the works which have taken over a year longer than originally planned and have cost over £6 million, which is around double the estimate made two years ago. The final milestone will only be reached when the long suffering Sailing Club, Outdoor Education Centre and Water-ski Club are able to fully function and the quality of the rare SSSI environment is restored to, at least, its former state, and this may take several years.

"The county council has carried out vital safety improvements to the overflow to safeguard nearby residents in the event of severe flooding, which will enable us to monitor the condition of the dam much more closely in the future".

"The drawdown culvert – the equivalent of the plughole in a bath – was located and inspected for the first time in over 200 years. Vital improvements have now been made and the project is expected to be complete in the spring.”

Translation: Galliford Try is hoping to be off site by mid-March.

Water levels have begun to rise again after the plug was replaced last October. It is expected to be refilled fully by spring 2013.

Translation: The exceptionally dry 11 months since last March, when the last water was run off into the canal, has meant that the filling of the lake has been very slow and unless we have the wettest year on record, there's not a remote chance of the lake being full, or even half-full, by next spring. The currently small surface area has only risen by about 90cm since last March and there's another 7m to go before the lake is full.

Jeffrey's Swag has refilled and is now overflowing into the main lake bed and helping to dilute the poor quality water flowing down from the Chasetown Industrial Estate, which is frequently polluted by an unadopted drain. Members of the public are urged to call the Environment Agency's 24 hour Freephone Incident Line on 0800 80 70 60 whenever they sense pollution in this, or any other, stream flowing into Chasewater.

Well, at least this is what I feel should have been said but of course we all see things from different perspectives and I look forward to shifting into the parallel universe inhabited by the writers of the blog so I can fully experience the results of this 'hugely successful' project next spring.

GE

February 8th

The Natural History of Chasewater by Graham Evans

I will be giving an illustrated talk to the Norton Canes Local History Society on Tuesday 14th February at Norton Canes Library from 7:00pm. Everyone is welcome to come along and share in the learning about the social and natural history of our special place. A great Valentines Day night out!

GE.

February 2nd-8th 2012

Friends of Norton Bog

The  Hammerwich Weather and News blog now reports the total rain for December (so far) to be 67.4mm which is just about average for the region. However, the total for the year of 432.4mm is just 65% of the regional average and not ideal for filling up a reservoir. Happy Wet New Year to everyone!

GE

A new update from Staffs CC has been posted on the Chasewater Dam Blog, which gives details of the current state of the work on the dam and informing that the path across the dam and Nine-foot bridge has been temporarily re-opened over the Christmas period whilst Galliford Try are not working. This evening I took advantage of the re-opened path to take the following images.

The  Hammerwich Weather and News blog continues to make interesting reading and is clearly being run by a very knowledgeable and devoted enthusiast. By December 3rd the total rainfall recorded for the year was only 371.4mm which is only 56% of the Birmingham annual average of 662mm. It's no wonder that the water-table is so low and streams aren't flowing but at least there are signs of wetter weather in the next 24 hours with heavy rain forecast by the BBC during Thursday afternoon; let's hope it arrives and starts to make a difference to the water-levels.

 The following table is from Wikipedia:

GE

The Dam Works - water levels are rising!

Friends of Norton Bog

The 'Friends of Norton Bog' meeting at Norton Canes Library this evening was attended by 22 people and there was a very encouraging atmosphere of enthusiasm towards the care and management of the site. The main purpose of the 'Friends' is to develop a group of people who are willing to give some of their time to care for this special area that is now part of the Chasewater and the Southern Staffordshire Coalfield Heaths SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Importance). Staffordshire County Council has been managing this area for over 10 years and in two years time will be taking over full control of the Chasewater Country Park which will include the Norton Bog area. The first work-party session for the 'Friends' will be on Sunday 8th January between 10am and 1pm, meeting at the Wooden Stables car park on the Burntwood Road (just before the 'Skoda' roundabout as approached from Norton). Everyone is welcome but please don't arrive in your Sunday best - there's work to be done and fun to be had!

Contact names and numbers are:

Rob Davies of Staffs County Ranger Service at 07855 336 907

Steve Archer, Community Volunteers Officer at 07817 863 303

Norton Bog Country Park (Click on image to enlarge) GE

A new update from Staffs CC has been posted on the Chasewater Dam Blog.

GE

Signal Crayfish

GE

In September 2004, the Outdoor Education Centre received a huge quantity of surplus sandy overburden from the construction of the by-pass and used it to form bunds around their grounds. This week this material has been almost completely removed and deposited over the re-contoured land at the north end of the dam. This has been a really imaginative use of on-site material that never really appeared to be in the right place and should form a good base for the restoration of heathland  that will lead into the, hopefully, regenerated sphagnum lawn when the hydrology has recovered. Paul Fisher of Penny Anderson Associates recently said that the hard work starts now and this is a great example of some of the high level restoration works that I know they will be demanding in order to re-establish the site's important ecosystems.

September 2004

North end of dam

GE

Tonight's Stakeholders' Meeting was both informative and amicable. The work at the north end of the dam should be completed by the end of the week and all resources will then be focused on the Nine-foot area and the completion of works at the head of the canal. It was emphasised that the 'completion of a major engineering milestone' (see below) referred to being able to say 'the plug was back in' not the completion of all the works which, given good weather and trouble free progress, should be made by March. The bridge will be completed first and the weir will be the last major part of the works but due to the constant need for heavy plant to access the area it may not be possible to open up the footpath across the dam until completion but options are being considered. In the meantime people are urged to respect the safety measures which are in place.

The speed of the refilling of the lake is totally dependant on the amount of rainfall we have so no promises can be made but British Waterways have agreed to not draw off water from the reservoir until it is full in order to allow the dam to be inspected whilst under full load and to ensure the Sailing Club and Waterski Club get back on the water as soon as possible. It's rather ironic that, despite 'putting back the plug', Galliford Try really need it not to rain to ensure a swift completion. Meanwhile, all other users are now choreographing their various rain dances!

It is hoped that, once cut, many of the taller willows on the lake bed could be used creatively!

The Sailing Club and Wildlife Group have both persistently been asking if, whilst water levels are so low, there could be some modifications to the lake bed to prevent damage to boats and to enhance the wildlife value of the Island.  Whilst they were managing the works, verbal assurances were given by Lichfield DC that this would be done. As the total cost of the works, including Lichfield's costs, has been taken over by Staffs CC it must surely be within Lichfield's ability to do this work, as they have with the Waterski Club's 'slalom channel'. It would be a good gesture and would go some way towards mitigating the effects of the unnecessarily long period of drawdown which has caused such damage to the Sailing Club and to the lake's ecology.

GE

I've now seen last week's editions of the Burntwood Post and Burntwood Mercury and it just reinforces how careful you have to be when researching the past by using newspapers. Any future local historian researching the events at Chasewater in 2011 would be led to believe by the Burntwood Post, under the headline "Chasewater rises again", that by October 13th 2011 the dam safety project had been 'finally completed' and that 'It is hoped the reservoir should have refilled fully by Summer 2012, if there is average rainfall'.

Fortunately, the Burntwood Mercury (reporter Alex Keller) has been far more professional and has researched beyond the press release that both papers presumably received from Staffs CC and has produced quite an accurate and informative 3 page article. The press release was as follows:

Celebration at Chasewater as the plug finally goes back in

After two years, waters at historic Chasewater reservoir will start to rise again after the completion of a major engineering milestone.

The 200-year-old reservoir at the heart of Chasewater Country Park was drained of water in early 2010 amid concerns for the safety of the dam which dates back to 1797.

The £5.5 million project, started by Lichfield District Council, proved a bigger challenge than anticipated and was taken over by Staffordshire County Council in May 2011. The county council has extensive experience of managing major engineering projects.

Now the “plug has gone back in” and water levels can once more start to rise. This will restore Chasewater to its original position as a major regional leisure attraction, wildlife haven and key component of the Midlands canal network.

Mark Winnington, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Assets said: “This has been a major engineering project that has been carried through to a swift and successful conclusion by the county council.

“I am now delighted to be able to confirm that the plug is back in and the reservoir will start to refill naturally with water.”

The original role of the reservoir was to regulate water in the Midlands canal network – in times of drought water would be drawn from the reservoir to ensure the economically vital canals were still deep enough to navigate. 

Fears however had grown that the earth dam was no longer safe to withstand major floods, was leaking, and could pose a danger to nearby homes.

County Councillor Winnington said: “We now have a much better understanding of the dam. Overflow precautions have been improved to safeguard nearby residents in the event of severe flooding, and we will be able to monitor the condition of the dam much more closely in the future.

“The drawdown culvert – the equivalent of the plughole in a bath – was located and inspected for the first time in over 200 years. Vital improvements have now been made. A mystery brick-built chamber that does not appear on any plans was also discovered inside the dam, and will now be used as part of our monitoring procedures.”

Water does seep through the dam, but this is perfectly normal and acceptable as long as it is carefully monitored to spot potential safety concerns. It has also created a mini-ecosystem that has become a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The work has ensured this is safeguarded.

Clive Thomson, the county council’s Head of Specialist Services said: “The dam is as safe as it is possible to make it and we will now be able to monitor its condition in far greater detail than was previously possible.

“Some water will always pass through an earth dam, but we are now able to keep a very close eye on how much and ensure this is not weakening the structure.”

County Councillor Winnington said: “People should start to see the water levels in the dam rise. We realise that many local people have been frustrated about the length of time that the reservoir has been empty, but we really have completed the work in as short a time as practical, and to keep local people informed with help from colleagues at Lichfield District Council.

“This work will provide reassurance for local people, will allow the country park to go from strength-to-strength as a visitor attraction and will also benefit wildlife and users of the regional canal network.”

It is hoped the reservoir should have refilled fully by Summer 2013 if there is average rainfall.

Some facts

• Chasewater reservoir covers 108 hectares and holds approximately 3.7 million cubic metres of water

• It would take approximately 1.5 million road tankers full of water to fill the reservoir

• The main dam is 560 metres long and is 12 metres high

The 'major engineering milestone' was, of course, the completion of the works between the penstocks and entrance to the drawdown culvert, which allowed them to say that 'the plug was back in'.  Councillor Winnington reinforced the 'misunderstanding' by saying "This has been a major engineering project that has been carried through to a swift and successful conclusion by the county council." and this rather misled people into thinking the whole job was complete and for the BBC to even think the lake was now full!

Perhaps all this spin is caused by the size of the new plughole!

GE.

Many thanks to Brownhills Bob for posting this superb map of Chasewater in 1884. Its a mine of information.

Misleading press headlines such as this one from the BBC (Stoke and Staffordshire)

Chasewater Reservoir refilled after £5.5m repair work

have led people to believe that the job has been completed and the lake is now full! I think the intention of the press release was to give hope to the water users that, as far as the refilling of the lake is concerned, Staffs CC have done their part of the job and it's now down to our wonderfully enigmatic weather to do the rest. However, what real hope can there be when we are in what is currently the driest year for 35 years resulting in a negligible rise in water level over the past 6 months when, as far as I know, no water has been pumped out. We just don't know what the weather will bring so no accurate prediction of when the lake will be full can be made.

The Staffs CC works are not planned to be completed before 'early/mid 2012' and the path across the dam will not be reopened to the public before completion.

Nature's completion date has not been announced!

GE

October 11th

The  area at the north end of the dam has been reprofiled and the new embankments have been 'hydroseeded' and if the mild weather continues the grass seed should germinate before the onset of winter. The two terraces have not been seeded and look as if they may be maintained as access roads to the various drains. It appears that the secondary chamber on the outlet culvert is being developed to allow it to be used as an inspection chamber without having to drain the lake to its present level. The weather forecast predicts no significant rain during the next 5 days.

October 10th - this is a work in progress but please reply if you have any observations you would like to add (GE).

Its great to have good discussion and research into Chasewater's fascinating history which, of course, has created the wonderful variety of scarce habitats that has led to the area being designated a SSSI. Brownhills Bob and his contributors are having a great debate regarding the pump house and overflow and I must have been very close to the mythical Bob yesterday as we seem to have been investigating the same area around the same time. Last week's post referred to my wish for better quality maps and, of course, Bob has obliged and I have copied the following sections that show the Anglesey Basin area in 1884, 1902, 1919 and 1962 (as usual, click on the images to enlarge them). If you're reading this Bob, if you have these maps covering the whole of the Chasewater area it would be fantastic to have copies of them to help refine the site's history - please!

The official announcement has now been made that 'the plug has gone back in'.

October 5th

Good progress has been made in the last week and all but the work around the Nine-foot area appears to be close to completion. The lake now appears to have a proper plughole but the 'plug' has effectively been 'in' for the last 6 months, since, I think, the last time any water was released into the canal was in March. We must now hope that the extremely dry year has saved up all the rain for the winter period and good progress can be made towards refilling the lake. The water level is currently at 144m AOD and when full it is at 152m. In recent years, when levels have been 150-152m, the average October-March rise in water-level has been 130cm. The present area of water covers only 25% of the total lake bed so only around 30% of water required for the final metre will be needed to raise the level to 145m, but of course the Swag will need to fill before any of the 'Norton water' helps to refill the main lake. Given a reasonably wet winter we could hope for a 4m rise to 148m by April, which is the level it was at during the 1976 drought. However, if rainfall over the last 12 months is replicated its going to be an achievement to reach 146m by the spring. I wonder what the odds are for when it will next overflow the new weir?

October 3rd

Its pleasing to see that the last article made a good impact on Brownhills Bob's Blog so I thought I'd at least make a start at adding more food for thought by comparing the following maps, of which I would love to find better copies!

October 2nd

Brownhills Bob's Blog entry for 28th September refers to the old 'Pump House' that used to be situated on the dam. I've waited a few days to see if anyone was going to offer any information, memories or myths but nothing has been forthcoming so I thought I'd better make my contribution which is very much based upon some 1988 correspondence very kindly provided by Tina James. I've copied extracts of the letters involving Maurice Cooke (researching his great grandfather, William West), J. H. Andrew (Birmingham Museum) and Tina's father, Mr Fred Downs who used to live in the house on the dam.

So it would appear that the pump was installed as part of the massive expansion of the canal system (Anglesey Branch and Cannock Extension) in the early 1850s. The engine and boilers were provided by Davis of Tipton and the huge 45" internal diameter pump came from the Carlisle Canal Co. after their canal was drained in 1853. The engine was scrapped in 1937, when it (and the pump?) was sold to J. Cashmore but the brick shell was still standing in 1939.

Clearly there is still a lot to learn about this historical feature and many related aspects of the canal and dam and the following is a list of the questions that come to my mind:

• Although dates on bridges etc refer to 1850 being the time of construction of the Anglesey Branch, I have a copy of a letter titled "Letter written by Homeshaw to Mr Wright 5th Nov 1956" which states that the original channel that fed the canal "was converted into a canal, called Anglesey Branch under Victoria Cap 112 dated 1854-5". Did this Act of Parliament precede the construction or just ratify it?

• Was the Valve House and culvert constructed at the time of the Engine House and canal or were they built as part of the original 1796-7 or rebuilt/repaired 1799-1800 dam.

• If they were all part of the same works, how was the channel fed from the reservoir for the first 50 years?

• If the construction of the reservoir started in 1796, how on earth could it have been full enough to burst the dam in 1799 when we know just how long it takes to make relatively minor strengthening works with modern machinery over 200 years later? Remember that Eastern and Western dams were constructed and perhaps some clay puddling was required on the lake bed before filling could take place. The current works have already taken 20 months and there are 6 feet of water still in the lake but forecasts predict that it will not be full for another 3 years.

• How was the pump used? Presumably its function was to draw water back into the reservoir, whenever the canal system was full, in order to prevent precious water being lost to the Crane Brook. Did water gush through the pipe that appears to connect the Pump House and the Valve House and then out over the dam wall?

• When was the shell of the Engine/Pump House demolished?

What do you all think/know?

GE

September 28th

September 26th

September 13th

The photo at the head of this news page shows a Willow Tit which is still a regular breeder in the Chasewater, Cuckoo Bank and Little Wyrley areas but greatly reduced in numbers over the past 20 years or so. I remember that during local fieldwork for the BTO Winter Atlas in the early 1980's it was the third most frequently encountered tit after Blue and Great. This certainly is not the case now with Coal and Long-tailed Tits considerably outnumbering Willow which has probably declined by 50% locally during this period. However, the situation nationwide is far worse as highlighted in a recent article from Wildlife Extra.com (Scan down the Recent Wildlife News column to find the article copied below).

The British sub-species Poecile montana kleinschmidti is almost unique to England and Wales as it does not occur in Ireland and most of Scotland. The huge decline throughout most of the country must put the bird's existence in jeopardy so I feel any management plan for the new SSSI must embrace the needs of our Willow Tits and not just the heathland habitat. Please report any sightings of Willow Tits (and Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers which are even rarer locally) so that we can build up our knowledge of their numbers, territories and preferred habitats throughout the year. (GE)

The Chasewater Dam blog has been updated after a break of 5 weeks and it's an interesting read.

The following section of the update refers to the 'plug-hole' area:

The photos on the blog show the remarkable brickwork that runs through the dam and it's encouraging to know time won't be needed to repair it. However, it is clear that work needs to be done on the damaged penstock and at both the inlet and outlets so it is presumed that the 'plug will not be put back' for quite a while.

The installation of the filter drain at the base of the dam on the downsteam [I think they meant 'downstream'] side was competed [completed] during August and work is now well underway to re-grade the slope of the lower embankment and we are also installing additional gravel drains on the downstream slope to assist with future monitoring.

We are still in the world of hopes and anticipation but surely the works can't be too far off completion. There is no mention of any work to the southern part of the dam, apart from the Nine-foot area nor the removal of one set of steps along Norton East Road in order to block a potential overflow point. We will hope to get more detail at the next Stakeholders' meeting next week.

(GE)

September 5th - by G Evans

The last month has seen a great deal of activity on the dam although nothing has been reported on the LDC Chasewater Dam Blog so I'll try to describe what appears to have been going on.

August 10th

August 9th

On August 3rd the Chasewater Dam Blog was updated and included some useful general information. It is clear that these updates will continue to be issued very much on Staffs CC's terms and no comments are being published or encouraged.

The regrading of the lower slopes of the dam will presumably use the ground gained by the toe-drain to create a gentler gradient and it is likely any remaining tree roots will be removed. It is likely that there will be infill of some of the hollows at the south end of the dam.

The photos below show the outlet pipe being drained within the coffer dam and the resultant sludge is being pumped into a pool on the lake bed. The sludge, which is quite heavily contaminated by 200 years of accumulated industrial chemicals, is quite lawfully being kept on site despite being within the SSSI. If it were to be taken off site all sorts of restrictions would have to be adhered to in its disposal.

July 19th

Today work continued on the toe-drain/filter, the steel reinforcement cages for the new concrete weir at the Nine-foot continued to be assembled and a temporary access road was being laid to the draw-down outlet in preparation for the coffer dam to be constructed (GE).

July 18th

Yesterday there was an opportunity to look more closely at the dam works and the effect it's having on the SSSI wetland below the dam.

	Apart from the Nine-foot area, all works are currently centred on the north half of the dam. At the base of the dam the toe-drain appears to consist of a 20-30cm thick layer of filter sand against the lowest 2-3m of the dam face and the rest of the space to the sheet piles is filled with over 2m of course gravel. I imagine this will be covered by a layer of the peaty clay that has been removed and stored at the north end of the dam and allowed to vegetate naturally. I can't see how any of the stored wetland plants could survive on such a well drained site so its very unlikely that they will be relocated here.
Bog mats and sheet piles.
Sandy Bay	Some progress at the Nine-foot
The photo above shows just how close the works are to one of the most special areas of the Site of Special Scientific Interest. The area in the lower left hand corner of the photo is part of the acidic Sphagnum lawn that supported many hundreds of specimens of the rare and fascinating insectivorous Round-leaved Sundews as well as Cranberry, Crowberry and Cross-leaved Heath. The photo below shows the site in 1975 when it was in its prime and despite being designated a SSSI in 1987, little has been done to maintain these conditions. The works on the dam, particularly the sheet piles, have completely changed the site's hydrology and despite the best efforts of Penny Anderson Associates, the consultant ecologists, I fear that we will never see the site return to its former condition. PAA has installed 75cm deep plastic piles on the edge of the bog to try to hold back as much of the acidic water as possible but the sphagnum is dry and grazed by rabbits and there is not a single sundew plant. September 1975
Once the habitat for thousands of Round-leaved Sundews	Polytrichum appears to be replacing the sphagnum
I find it quite amazing that Natural England has declared the site to be in 'Favourable' condition and it just makes one believe that yet another target achieving exercise has been completed by someone desperate to keep their job. The following has been taken from the Nature on the Map website: Chasewater And The Southern Staffordshire Coalfield Heaths SSSI condition summary The following information is based upon details compiled on 01 Jun 2011 by Adam Dempsey the Natural England staff member responsible for the SSSI. Glossary of terms PSA target The Government's Public Service Agreement (PSA) target to have 95% of the SSSI area in favourable or recovering condition by 2010. Main habitat The broadest classification of the feature on the unit selected from a list of habitats based on the BAP Broad Habitat classification. Unfavourable recovering Unfavourable recovering condition is often known simply as 'recovering'. SSSI units are not yet fully conserved but all the necessary management measures are in place. Provided that the recovery work is sustained, the SSSI will reach favourable condition in time. In many cases, restoration takes time. Woodland that has been neglected for 50 years will take several years to bring back into a working coppice cycle. A drained peat bog might need 15-20 years to restore a reasonable coverage of sphagnum. Favourable Favourable condition means that the SSSI land is being adequately conserved and is meeting its 'conservation objectives', however, there is scope for the enhancement of these sites. Latest assessment date The date when the latest condition assessment was carried out.   Unit Name Area (ha) Habitat Condition Date of assessment 1 Hednesford  Hills 116 Dwarf shrub heath Unfavourable recovering 24/11/10 2 Restored ‘Bleak House’ 79 Dwarf shrub heath Unfavourable recovering 30/7/10 3 Cuckoo Bank 31 Dwarf shrub heath Unfavourable recovering 30/7/10 4 No Man’s Bank 37 Dwarf shrub heath Unfavourable recovering 29/7/10 5 Norton Bog 30 Dwarf shrub heath Unfavourable recovering 29/7/10 6 North Shore Heath 53 Dwarf shrub heath Unfavourable recovering 29/7/10 7 Dam marsh/bog 7 Fen, marsh and swamp Favourable 28/7/10 8 Heath south of canal 8 Dwarf shrub heath Unfavourable recovering 28/7/10 9 Raceway Heath 11 Dwarf shrub heath Unfavourable recovering 28/7/10 10 Brownhills Common 33 Dwarf shrub heath Unfavourable recovering 28/7/10 11 Biddulph’s Pool 2 Fen, marsh and swamp Favourable 27/7/10 12 Slurry Pool 8 Standing open water Favourable 27/7/10 13 Lake and Swag 102 Standing open water Unfavourable recovering 27/7/10 14 Canal 1 Standing open water Favourable 26/7/10 15 Sandhills Heath 6 Dwarf shrub heath Unfavourable recovering 26/7/10 The total area of the SSSI is 530ha SSSI name: Chasewater And The Southern Staffordshire Coalfield Heaths % Area meeting PSA target % Area favourable % Area unfavourable recovering % Area unfavourable no change % Area unfavourable declining % Area destroyed / part destroyed 100.00% 3.81% 96.19% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% Target achieved!!!! How can anyone who has actually visited the site say that the Lake is 'recovering'; its probably in the worst state of its 200 year history and I just don't believe that 'all the necessary management measures are in place'. How are they going to guarantee the quality of the water that will eventually refill the lake? How are they going to re-establish the quality of the flora of the littoral zone, the Floating Water-plantain and the 9 species of pondweed? Will attempts be made to re-establish the crayfish population? No wonder they refused to include the bird populations into the SSSI notification, despite qualifying in several respects, since I fear that it will be a long time before we see the Tufted Duck and Goldeneye numbers anywhere near the levels before the lake was drained. Perhaps they will argue that as the SSSI wasn't notified till December 2010, the state of the lake at that time will be used as a baseline and not the way it was prior to this unnecessarily prolonged period of total drawdown. G Evans

'Next week' has clearly arrived and we have another update (dated 13th July) which reads:

It seems that the review of the key elements of the works has been completed, apart from the matter of the drawdown culvert and large parts of the original plan are not now going to be undertaken. The toe-drain has superseded the sand filters, there is no mention of the French drain around the residential properties or any work at the southern end of the dam. The coffer-dam must be installed as soon as possible to allow the examination of the drawdown culvert and for decisions to be made by the first week in August.

G Evans

The Dam Blog for June 27th reads:

The Dam Works - well it has for over 200 years!

The works on the dam are in a state of hiatus whilst Staffordshire County Council along with a newly appointed team assess what is needed to be done to ensure the dam's safety. Works that have been started such as the causeway culvert and Nine-foot bridge and weir will be completed but it would appear that the rest of the works are in a state of re-assessment and revision. The pile driving at the foot of the dam has stopped and rumour has it that the piles could even be taken out if the revised programme dictates. The pipe from the 'plug-hole' to the valve house needs to be inspected before any repair work can be decided and efforts are being made to get access to the outlet without having to drain the rest of the lake as Staffs CC are mindful that the more they drain out the longer it will take to re-fill.

It goes without saying that the Sailing Club and other water users are increasingly concerned about their ability to survive if the lack of water continues beyond two years.

The Dam Blog for June 13th reads:

Clearly all is progressing well and we will soon be on the road to normality. (GE)

BTO Atlas

Every 20 years, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) organises a survey of the breeding and wintering birds of Britain and Ireland. The results have been published in two superb volumes which include distribution and abundance maps for every species based upon the 10 square km square of the Ordnance Survey. The current survey has been covering the last 4 years and will be finishing at the end of July. The square SK00 covers the area of Chasewater, Clayhanger and Stubbers Green as well as the rich farmland and woodland of Little Wyrley and the Stonnall area and so far 74 species have been proven to breed.

However, proof of breeding is still need for the following species: Ruddy Duck, Barn Owl, Little Owl, Kingfisher, Pheasant, Grey Partridge, Red-legged Partridge, Yellow Wagtail and Stonechat, all of which have probably bred in the last 4 years. For example, did anyone see any young Stonechats on the North Heath in 2009 or Ruddy Ducks on the Slurry Pool in 2008?

It would be great to get as accurate a picture of our local birdlife as possible and any new information would be greatly appreciated. Its well worth logging on to and registering with the BTO Atlas site in order to access an amazing array of information and be able to add any additional records.

Most of Cuckoo Bank lies in the square SK01 which also includes Gentleshaw Common, the eastern half of Cannock Chase, the Trent around Handsacre and Hill Ridware and the farmland around Chorley. Proof of breeding is still needed for Tufted Duck, Red-legged and Grey Partridges, Pheasant, Kestrel, Lapwing, Collared Dove, Cuckoo, Little Owl, Tawny Owl, Nightjar, Green Woodpecker, Garden Warbler, Lesser Whitethroat, Willow Tit and Jay.

Proof of breeding can include seeing adult birds carrying food or faecal sack, seeing newly fledged or downy young, distraction display etc.

G. Evans

Several information signs have been posted along the South and West Shores regarding the Little Ringed Plovers, at least 5 pairs of which have now hatched young (GE).

On Wednesday 18th April, Lichfield DC passed over control of Chasewater to Staffordshire County Council. However, it was not until Wednesday 18th May that the deal was finally announced through the following press release.

Chasewater Country Park and its reservoir have been transferred to Staffordshire County Council in a strategic move set to secure and strengthen the long-term future of this key regional resource.

The Stakeholders' Meeting that immediately followed this announcement followed its usual course with only rather vague estimates given by Galliford Try for the completion of any stage of the works.

There was rare optimism from the Chasewater Railway that the causeway culvert works will be completed in time for them to use the whole line during the Bank Holiday weekend (May 28th-30th). Let's hope that this is the case, though I'm not the only one with serious doubts. The change in gradient means that all the drivers will have to be re-trained!

The pile-driving was started during the afternoon of the 18th May and by the weekend 16 had been driven into to area below the dam, just upstream from the SSSI sphagnum lawn. After the 120+ piles have been installed the ground behind them will be excavated in readiness for the filter sand, the source of which has yet to be 100% confirmed.

The main lake will, after all, have to be drawn down to at least 2m below the level of works which means it will be practically emptied and British Waterways will conduct another fish-capture in roughly a month's time. The coffer dam can then be constructed around the 'plug-hole' and the pipe leading to the valve-house relined.

The works around the Nine-foot culvert are progressing slowly but the rock wall designs have been agreed and work will start on them in around 3 weeks time.

At the time of the meeting the silt curtain, to protect the rare plants in the canal, hadn't been fully installed but would be soon.

LDC knew of one pair of Little Ringed Plovers and they had put a sign on the pier to warn people that they had just walked over the breeding territory in order to read it. This pair is now trying again a little further towards the castle. Clearly none of LDC officers read this web-site and have not communicated with The Ecological Consultants with whom I had a meeting and sent them a map showing 9 Little Ringed Plover breeding territories.

Everyone I have spoken to has been very concerned and fascinated by the rare, protected plovers and have wondered why the Council hasn't put up information signs or fencing this year. I have now decided to describe in the diary precise details of the nesting Little Ringed Plovers since the threat of accidental disturbance through ignorance is far greater than that of deliberate vandalism. I will also be in regular email contact with the site manager, Kevin Yates and I urge everyone with any concern to do likewise.

G Evans.

There's a strange atmosphere around the site at the moment with many of the regular walkers, joggers, anglers and birders carrying their own versions of just what's going on. I didn't receive an email with the revised date for April's Stakeholders' Meeting so I missed out on the latest LDC version of developments and its only been in the last day that, after a break of nearly 3 weeks, the Dam Blog has been updated and here it is:

A reply to someone's concern regarding reports in the press that the project has been delayed was answered with:

A much more positive meeting tonight since the last couple of weeks have seen the start of a lot of activity on the dam. The Nine-foot area has seen the greatest activity recently and whilst work is in progress valuable soil and vegetation is being stored on the site of the former stadium which is now part of the new SSSI.

The Swag is currently being lowered to allow the new culvert to be in place before Easter and around the end of March the lake will be pumped down a further metre to 143 AOD to allow the coffer dam to be installed around the 'plug-hole'. The planned date for 'putting back the plug' is mid-June but, of course, it will very much depend on the summer weather whether the water-levels go up or further down!

The filter sand has been sourced fairly locally and appears to be of the correct type and quality but the Inspecting Engineer is currently on holiday and so the final decision cannot yet be made (GE).

'Tough going' is now the expression used to describe the works on the dam. Every effort is being put into completing the operation as soon as possible but no-one is now daring to mention dates beyond the realm of hopes and wishes. At least there was a genuine atmosphere of regret and concern and a lot of worried faces, particularly from the representatives from the Sailing and Waterski Clubs. (GE).

I thought I'd better start making a few comments about the SSSI notification as its now nearly two months since it was made and we have until April 18th to make an official reply. These will be very much 'thoughts' that will be developed as time allows.

Firstly, we are pleased that, at long last, an extensive corridor of open land between ever expanding urbanisation has been given the protection afforded by SSSI status. An example of how important this is was demonstrated back in the 1980's when the Bleak House opencast application was made. The initial application in 1983 was to work about 19 million tonnes over a period of about 23 years, affecting 533 hectares from Rawnsley in the north to Norton Canes in the south. Concerns were expressed regarding the size and duration of opencast operations (but not particularly the ecological damage) and a scaled down application was made in 1985 to work 6.3 million tonnes of coal, affecting 334 hectares over a period of 12 years. The restoration plans involved the creation of farmland with patches of woodland and a nature trail through a recreated pool at the former Biddulph's Pool!  After frantic work by the Staffordshire Nature Conservation Trust, Nature Conservancy Council and local action groups the Biddulph's Pool and No Man's Bank SSSI's were notified on 28th November 1986, just at the very start of the Public Enquiry. Without this SSSI designation the outcome would have been very different and our local environment would have been massively poorer than is currently the case. The prime areas were saved and large areas of what was mined had to be restored to a range of wet and dry heathland; something not even considered in the original application. The success of the restoration is reflected in the fact that all the recreated heathland is included in the new SSSI and is a beautiful, diverse and uplifting area to feel part of.

So how does all this relate to the new Chasewater and the Southern Staffordshire Coalfield Heaths SSSI?

In 1987, the Chasewater Heaths SSSI was notified and the controlling local councils have been responsible for the management of the designated areas to the north and east of the reservoir.

The SSSI designations in the 1980’s prevented ‘development’ from destroying scientifically important land or where mining was permitted the restoration had to be to very exacting standards. This surely must be good news for the much more extensive area covered by the new SSSI but upon close examination very little of the designated area is under any threat of ‘development’ but the following areas have been deliberately omitted from the SSSI despite their biological importance and ability to satisfy the requirements made in the following statement from the SSSI notification guidelines:

The Guidelines state that:

‘When one...habitat...on its own is regarded as being of SSSI quality... the addition of an adjoining different habitat (even though this might not qualify as an SSSI on its own) will often expand the value of the first. Considered as a single site, the value of the whole is enhanced and not diluted by this addition.’

The omissions are:

Plant Swag –only separated from the SSSI by the by-pass and home to at least 13 species of dragonflies (by Guideline definition an ’outstanding assemblage’), the scarce Dingy Skipper butterflies, several scarce plants such as Greater Spearwort, Lesser Reedmace and Gallingale as well as the UK Biodiversity Action Plan species Willow Tits, Reed Buntings and Bullfinches. It could qualify as a SSSI in its own right and certainly satisfies the Guideline statement above but it lies in an industrial/commercial development zone and it could pose planning problems if it were part of the SSSI.

Land between Milestone Way and Church Street – designated a Site of Biological Importance (SBI) but LDC want to build 425 houses on this land (click here for details) and are currently cutting down all the trees and scrub to ensure that all the Whitethroats, Garden Warblers, Blackcaps, to name but a few, can’t start nesting this year. I wonder why?

Church Street Open Space – part of the above SBI but a Greenfield site and a real gem that brilliantly adds to the bio-diversity of the whole area. It supports many thousands of Adders-tongue ferns, a regionally scarce plant that is a good indicator of undisturbed, uncultivated ground. There are good populations of butterflies and moths, breeding Willow Tits and warblers including Lesser Whitethroats and at least 12 species of dragonfly have been seen. LDC intend to build houses on this site.

Ironstone Road Heath – a strange omission from the SSSI as it’s the only part of the Cuckoo Bank area of heath to fall within Lichfield District Council. No lesser area of heath than much of that included in the SSSI and absolutely adjacent to it but excluded.

Highfield Farm (between the motorway and A5) – currently in the Green Belt and adding another habitat type to the site and increasing the bio-diversity. LDC want to take it out of Green Belt and use it for housing.

Brownhills Common (south of the Chester Road) – this important link in the ecological corridor through to the Clayhanger SSSI and Wyrley Common has been omitted from the SSSI despite being within the area of search. This is the one area of Brownhills Common that has had little management since the fires of 1976 and unlike the more ‘tamed’ areas (ie mown and planted with conifers) either side of The Parade it has a very diverse ecology with a wide range of ferns including the scarce Intermediate Polypody, an excellent dragonfly population, including Red-eyed Damselfly, breeding Willow Tits, herds of Red Deer and a good range of heathland plants including Cowberry, Bilberry, Bell Heather and Heath Rush as well as sphagnum filled bog pools. Admittedly there has been a prolific growth of birch over the past 35 years but a well designed and implemented management plan could restore this area to an excellent area that would enhance the whole SSSI. Could the reason for its exclusion be anything to do with the wishes of some who would like to opencast the coal and fire clay under the site? Planning permission was actually granted in the 1950’s so the threat is still there and, without SSSI status, if mining were to be granted the restoration of the site could be for football pitches or even housing – so much for the wildlife corridor!

South Shore, West Shore and the Dam – it is understandable why these areas were left out of the SSSI since they are either in well established ‘development’ zones or in need of extensive repair. However, it’s a pity that the patch of Bog Pimpernel on the South Shore is just outside the SSSI. The control of the constant erosion of the West Bank and the ‘development’ of the adjacent land will be interesting to monitor over the next few years.

(There is much more to follow - there's hardly been a word about the birds yet but there wasn't any mention in the SSSI notification either - I wonder why that is?)

A pleasant chat today with a couple of the Galliford Try chaps resulted in the following useful news:

• The installation of the causeway culvert will now take place after the Chasewater Railway's Spring Gala on 19th/20th March but drawdown of the Swag by 1.24m from its current level will start in early March in preparation for the works.

• The coffer dam around the 'plug-hole' will not be in place till much later in the year to allow the level of the lake (<144m AOD) to be controlled as usual and works on the dam filters can be undertaken at this level. The coffer dam can then be installed and the pipe relined.

• Once the filter sand has been sourced (I'm not sure whether it has been yet) there is a period of 2-3 weeks for testing before the Inspecting Engineer, Rod Bridle, can give the go-ahead for its installation.

Its interesting to scroll down to the October 20th entry (copied below) to see just how the schedule has changed;

 None of the work planned for December and January appears to have been started, apart from the unnecessary fish rescue! (GE)

Last Saturday (29th January) evening two regulars who had been watching the gull roost found themselves locked in the park due to the barrier refusing to work when driven up to in the usual manner. Only a very careful and potentially damaging manoeuvre over the kerb between the two control boxes allowed an escape to be made. It later became clear that the reason for this failure was caused by a parked car several metres away on the left side of the road which was activating the barrier's locking system. There is no signage telling people not to park at this place but I was told tonight by the park manager that there was no point because 'people round here can't read'. He did, however, agree there may be a need for yellow lines and blamed the situation on the previous park manager Amanda Craig, who left several years ago!

So please don't park within 30 metres (to be sure) of the barrier but rest assured if you do get locked in all night you 'won't be charged extra' - somehow I get the feeling LDC can't wait to get out of the place. Why is it that whoever in authority you speak to, and try to help, you walk away from feeling angry and patronised? Perhaps I've just lost my sense of humour. GE

2nd February 2011

It is said that the culverts are 'on their way' and that they hope to start work on the causeway 'very soon'. However, there is no mention of how much the Swag will have to be lowered to safely install the new culvert between the Swag and the main lake. A metre or so has been mentioned (but plans seem to frequently change) and this water will obviously add to the level  of the main lake and will have to be drained into the canal before the coffer dam is built.

21^st January 2011

The Fish Rescue

The second phase of the fish rescue has now been completed by virtue of 2-3 sweeps of the net catching a handful of mature Pike, Perch and Roach a couple of days ago. The need to remove these fish off site on environmental or compassionate grounds has to be questioned as it seems likely that the water level of the main lake may now not need to be lowered any further than it went during the summer (144m AOD - canal level).

The only time it may have to go lower will be when the coffer dam around the ‘plug-hole’ is installed but this is so close to the present shoreline that hopefully a sizeable lake will still exist during this period. However, to ensure there is a viable overflow from the main lake during the works, the other large and discrete pools will be drained down so that water can be pumped into them from the main lake to maintain levels at 144m AOD.

It is said that these pools were effectively cleared of fish during the first phase of the fish rescue but the many Goosanders currently feeding on fish from these pools seem to indicate otherwise. If this proposed procedure goes ahead the fish populations of all the pools will have to be carefully monitored. Very few Cormorants have been present recently which probably indicates a paucity of medium sized fish as shown by this week’s rescue efforts. However, it is likely that the Goosanders will continue to have easy pickings as they prefer to feed on smaller fish.

Why was the lake drained last year?

I’m just wondering how enthusiastic the water-sports people were when gleefully told on the Chasewater Dam Blog to look at the aerial photograph on Brownhills Bob’s Blog of the empty lake taken last summer during the time the dam repair had been scheduled to be undertaken and completed. Yet a whole sailing/water-skiing season was lost whilst nothing significant appeared to have been achieved.

The blame has been put squarely on the shoulders of the Inspecting Engineer, Mr Rod Bridle, who in a letter dated 28^th January 2010 said:

 “This is to confirm the urgency of commencing to release water from the reservoir in order to make it safe to carry out safety works this year, which is essential to comply with the requirements of the Reservoirs Act.

…………. this would take us to mid-April. The contractor would then have only one month to install pumps and empty the reservoir to commence filter construction at the toe above the SSSI swamp on 17^th May 2010, as planned to allow completion of the filter works during the summer months.”

Quite clearly Mr Bridle only ordered the draining of the lake because he thought the work was going to be completed during the summer of 2010 and the only safety concern was regarding the carrying out of works not the imminent failure of the dam. I just hope that a whole year of drying out hasn’t caused the dam to shrink and crack!

LDC's Dam Blog gave a different interpretation:

"Rod gave the instruction because the chance of the dam failing at that point was at a higher than acceptable level. By not draining the reservoir when we did, we would have been putting the public (towns, houses, villages) downstream at risk." 

and

 “Ultimately we had no choice, but more importantly, we realised the urgent need to do so, to protect local communities and the dam itself.”

Comments like this from the Chasewater Dam Blog are sensationalised and self-damning (pun intended). Of course initial plans and schedules become amended for good or unavoidable reasons but a little bit of humility and concern for those inconvenienced along the way wouldn’t go amiss. It appears that the only sense of urgency is to complete the repair by the legal deadline of October 2011 and if it means hardship for the users of the lake then so be it. I hope this is not the case and some sort of compensation is being offered to the Sailing Club, Watersports Centre and Outdoor Education Centre or even just an apology for taking a year longer than initially planned.

December 16th

Follow the links from the LDC's Chasewater Dam Blog to see the new leaflet that has been published to show the recommended footpaths during the works to the dam. It's good that the site's value for wildlife has been mentioned but what an incredible selection of species has been chosen! The following is a copy from the leaflet:

A great place for nature lovers

Flora and fauna

Wildlife

The average 'Nature Lover' would be hard-pressed to 'spot' most of the named species. In the 42 years I have been visiting the place (<10 000 visits) I have seen only 3 passage Nightjars, 1 Great Crested Newt, no Water Voles for 10 years, no Brown Long-eared Bats, 1 Emperor Moth and no Grass Snakes (although I have heard of two sightings in the past 6 years). And as to what an 'English orchid' is not even Google knows! There is no mention of any wildlife associated with the Lakes (regionally important flocks of Tufted Ducks and Goldeneye etc) and no butterflies or dragonflies. A main attraction of the general 'Nature Lover' are the swans which have recently been kept alive at great expense by a devoted group of people such as 'The Swan Lady' but the Council would have preferred them to have flown away to find their own food - so much for encouraging caring attitudes and respect for life. At least through the initiative of the excellent Rangers the profits from the sale of corn to the public throughout the year has allowed the purchase of extra feed during the winter. As usual, finances dictate which ethical code is followed.

I suppose it can be claimed that Chasewater is 'the ideal habitat for rare animals' - let's hope that with the imminent extension to the Site of Special Scientific Interest and probable new control by Staffs County Council there may be better knowledge, commitment and management to encourage the rare animals to make a home in this ideal habitat. You never know there may yet be hope for the Willow Tits, Reed Buntings, Snipe, Lapwings, Little Ringed Plovers, Little Grebes, Green Hairstreaks, Dingy Skippers, White-clawed Crayfish and Round-leaved Wintergreens to name but a few of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan species we have at Chasewater (GE).

(© G Evans)

It also occurs in the Cannock Extension Canal from Pelsall North Common to Yate's Boatyard and this stretch has been designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and there is a very strong case for the same designation to be given to Chasewater (G Evans).               

Click here for more information from the Botanical Society of the British Isles.

The following information is taken from the above website as is the map which shows all the hetrads (10km x 10km squares)where the plant has been recorded this century (rather more than the '18 locations' mentioned by the LDC article but I suppose if 'Snowdonia' is regarded as a single location then we might as well say that the UK is one of the few 'locations' in the world where Luronium occurs!):

The Chasewater / Cannock Extension dot is at (4,3)