©SVNG2023

Documents 1966 - 2006

Stansted Airport wildlife monitoring

Herts and Essex Observer article

Hatfield Forest butterflies 2005

Birchanger Wood Butterflies and Moths

Fish Report 1974

Flora of Bishops Stortford

BSNHS Newsletter 1999

Patmore Hall Survey 1985-87

Patmore Heath

In the mid 1980’s the Society was invited to make a study of the Patmore Hall Estate at the invitation of the owner Prince Rupert and the farm manager Tony Waugh who was a member of the Society.

Plant booklet

It was obviously an objective of the Society to produce ‘Transactions’ as lists of records. Only one seems to have made it into print. This is an impressive little booklet giving us a fascinating insight of 60 years ago and acting as a great stimulus to learn more about our local plants.

Stansted Airport

During the late 1980s and early 1990s a lot of work was done with regard to the expansion of Stansted Airport.

The work involved relocation of protected species such as Great Crested Newt and the creation of some new habitat areas to replace those destroyed by the development. The Society was invited to participate in the on-site monitoring and for several years we found ourselves rubbing shoulders with a whole variety of airport workers as they queued in a Portakabin to obtain their land or air side passes.

At one time the new balancing ponds which take the water from the runways before releasing it into the Pincey Brook was a favourite haunt of the Bird Group and there were many interesting records. With the increase in global terrorism the whole issue of access has become much more restricted.

Stort fisheries

In the years after the Second World War, the River Stort, was renowned as a great Roach river. By the mid-1960s it was apparent that the river was in decline. Fish catches in angling competitions were reduced and dead fish were a common sight in the river.

At Bishops Stortford it was not uncommon for the river to get temporarily polluted when the old sewage treatment works overflowed into the river. The situation was exacerbated by the post-war expansion of the town and the treatment works was simply incapable of dealing with the increased volume.

The author at the time had an angling interest as well as a biological background and training and volunteered to carry out a survey of the river for the local angling society.

Not long after this report was produced, the new treatment works at Jenkins Lane opened and resulted in a great improvement in water quality. Nowadays, this treatment works is largely responsible for maintaining the daily flow of the river but the downside is that the treated effluent, although meeting discharge consents, still has a very high phosphate level which has the effect of fertilising the river often causing excessive algal and weed growth.