Activity in Uppermill!
The Uppermill Community Action Network (UCAN) is delighted to share some good news with everyone that we have now completed the creation of a pond on land alongside the canal in Uppermill. Excavating the selected area started in late January 2020 but the full team effort had to stop soon after because of Lockdown. However, with socially distanced daily exercise still permitted for two people we thought what better way to get some fresh air and improve the environment than by working in pairs to finish off the pond!
To that end a UCAN volunteer cleared away vegetation that had grown on the pond site during the intervening months. The site was then lined with old carpet to protect the waterproof liner from puncturing. As a final check, for any sharp points, a volunteer walked over the carpet in socks! The liner was installed and a protective layer was laid over it to prevent ultra violet degradation. Finally the pond was ready for water.
In an ideal world UCAN Volunteers would have formed a human chain to seamlessly pass bucketfuls of water along the line from the canal to the new pond but, obviously, this was not possible. Instead one volunteer filled the buckets and the other one carried them to the pond. After 30 or so trips there was enough water in the pond to prevent the lining from blowing away. It is hoped that rainwater will finish the job.
With only the two UCAN Team members being able to work on the pond it has obviously taken quite some time to reach this stage but we managed it, it was hard work but also fun, hugely rewarding and it really is quite wonderful to see. We are now looking forward to putting in some well-chosen water loving plants at various levels and margins of the pond along with stones and logs around the edges to create a host and habitat for a huge variety of wildlife including, for example, frogs, toads and newts, various flies and birds which will pick off insects from above the water surface.
It is obviously our intention to regularly maintain the pond to keep a watchful eye for any build-up of leaf debris or encroaching vegetation and ensure that the pond is kept in a relatively balanced ecological state.
Final note: several of our UCAN Volunteers have also been out and about on a fairly regular basis – again just in socially distanced pairs – clearing litter from along the canal side helping to keep the village litter-free and protecting the habitats of our wonderful wildlife.
We are always pleased to welcome new members; for anyone interested when we are able to resume our regular Team type voluntary work and would like further information please contact Peter Killan on 01457 878361 or email peterkillan@hotmail.com
From all at Saddleworth Life – It’s great to hear you’ve been able to get on and make some improvements to our area!! Keep up the good work 🙂
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Author: Jude Gidney - Editor
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