Lastest news from Consols Pond

More wonderful news regarding the continued regeneration of the Pond. Brown trout have now been seen feeding and jumping out of the water; and even better than that, there is a Kingfisher regularly visisting the Pond! How fantastic is that?

Following a bird watching session to see the Kingfisher, my eleven year old daughter Chloe was inspired to ask if Consols Pond Association could form a Junior Member Group called 'Kingfishers'. Chloe put together a proposal which was presented to the committee at their meeting on Wednesday 3rd November. The committee were very impressed with Chloe's proposal, stating that engaging children was vital for the sustainability of the Pond and for the environment in general. It was decided to move the idea forward with a view to getting the group up and running early in the New Year.

Consols Pond Association will be holding a:

Coffee Morning

on Saturday 20th November

at The Western Hotel,

Royal Square, St Ives

between 10 - 12

Great raffle prizes, tombola, cake stall

Tea & Coffee

Please come along and support us!

AGM - 11th August 2010

Our AGM saw Terry Tonkin, a valued member of the committee, stand down due to other commitments, many thanks to Terry for all his help and support. All other committee members were voted back for another year and they would like to take this opportunity to 'Welcome' Suzanne Tanner who fills the vacancy left by Terry's departure.

Copies of the Chairman's AGM summary are available on request from: mandy_boyd@sky.com

Big Lottery Funding!

Wow! What Fantastic News!

Consols Pond Association has secured over £9,000 of Big Lottery Funding! These funds will allow the Association to construct a decked platform to facilitate access for all on the Zennor road side of the pond. Giving everyone in the community the opportunity to push boats out on Good Friday and to do pond dipping in order to study the diverse range of creatures living in the pond. What this space for progress reports!

Consols Pond Fun Day!

Consols Pond Fun Day

Saturday 31st July 2010
At Hellesveor Chapel, Consols – 11am til 4pm

Splat the Rat ~Balls in the Bucket ~ Name the Doll
Chuck-A-Duck ~ Tombola ~ Lucky Dip
Higher or Lower ~ Tuck Shop
Ice Creams ~ Cream Teas ~ Refreshments

Come along and have a great time!

Life Returns to the Pond

Life is definately returning to the Pond - On Monday I was delighted to see a small fish, a newt and some tadpoles!!!!!!!!!!!

There is also plenty of insect life - pond skaters, water boatmen and the flys over the water have attracted swallows - isn't nature wonderful?

Work has begun on the bank in order to make it ready for an event planned for the end of July - WATCH THIS SPACE!!

May - What's the latest?

Thankfully the algae problem seems to have settled at little, at least it's not getting any worse! And the concern about blue/green algae seems to no longer be a worry.

Looking ahead, this month should see us putting in our funding applications. Fingers crossed for this as almost all our plans hinge on us securing these funds.

Volunteers will be asked to work on the bank on the Chapel side of the pond in June, ahead of a Fun Day that we are hoping to hold in conjunction with Hellesveor Chapel at the end of July.

Watch this space for further updates!

Problems with Algae

Two weeks ago the Pond looked absolutely wonderful for Good Friday but look at it now!

The lack of plants in the Pond following the cleanout combined with the lovely weather we have been having, have caused filementous algae to grow. As it photosynthesises, oxygen bubbles get caught within the fine strands and make the algae float to the top. At the surface it looks like a brown frothy scum. Although very unsightly this does not pose any long term threat to the pond or the creatures in it. We are currently looking at environmentally sound ways to control this!

However, following testing that was carried out by the Environment Agency, there is also a small amount of Blue Green Algae in the pond - this is highly toxic - at the moment it is only a very small amount, but as a precaution - it is recommended that people DO NOT allow their children or pets to play in or with the water!

Hope to have better news in the near future!!!!

Good Friday - 2010

Wow! What a turnout! This photo was taken by Tobi Carver of St Ives Times and Echo. It was great to see so many people up at The Pond on Good Friday, "Thank You So Much" to everyone who came along to support the continuation of this long-held tradition.

We will now be pushing ahead with our funding bids in order to further enhance the community value of the pond and to enable you all to use it in a variety of ways.

We also have fund raisers coming up:

The first of these is an Illustrated talk by Vivian Stratton - Birds in Cornwall. This takes place on Wednesday 14th April at 7pm at the St Ives Infants School. Tickets are £3 in advance from the Tourist Information Office, The Guildhall, St Ives or £4 on-the-door.

We are also hoping to have a Duck Racing event which will be the main feature of a fun day to be held jointly between Consols Pond Association and Hellesveor Chapel.

Much more to come - so watch this space!

Once again Thank You for Your Support!!!!

ONE YEAR ON!!!

Is it really a year since the disappointment of Good Friday with no boats on Consols Pond? The time seems to have flown by. Of course, much work has gone on behind the scenes and tons of silt have been removed, in order to ensure that sailing boats can once again skim across the water on Good Friday.

Although the forecast for Friday doesn't look too good, please don't be put off - the Pond is ready and waiting for this important local tradition to continue.

Please remember to keep a close eye on your children and take care yourselves, the banks are quite steep and slippery in places. So come along and enjoy this truly local event. Hope you have a great time!

Get your boats out and dust them off!

With only two weeks to go, if you haven't already got your model boats out and checked them over, now would be a good time!


After all the disappointment of last Easter and all the hard work that's gone into getting the pond cleared and ready for action, it would be great to see plenty of boats on the water on Good Friday.
(Picture taken by Brian Stevens - 1961)


Hope to see you then!

Counting down to Good Friday!

Only three weeks to go to Good Friday!

After the disappointment and frustration of last year, how wonderful it will be to see boats sailing on the pond this Easter!!!

Don't forget, if you have a boat, get it out now and check it over so that it's ready for Good Friday!

The Chapel will be selling refreshments and Hot Cross buns (cold) proceeds to the Chapel fund, and there will also be a cake stall to raise more funds for Consols Pond Association - So don't forget to bring some change.

Hope to see you all there!

Wow! Isn't Mother Nature wonderful!!!

I was up at the pond this afternoon and gazing into the water, I was amazed to see that there is already spawn - in fact, two different kinds of spawn in the pond. Isn't Mother Nature wonderful, it's only been three weeks and with such major disturbance of the pond, it's great to know that wildlife is already finding its way back.

(This image is not of our pond!)

Please, please, can everyone get their boats ready for Good Friday? As we couldn't sail them last year it would be great to have as many as possible on the water this year!

What a difference a week makes!

Wow! Just look at our pond now!!!!!

Only a week ago the digger and dumpers were in and out all day, the water was so full of silt and the harbour went brown - what a difference.

Many thanks to Cornwall Council and the guys who carried out the work.

Now it's up to all of us to make the most of the pond. So if you've got a boat, please bring it up on Good Friday and put it in the water!

Good Friday morning there will be refreshments in the chapel, a cake stall and display about the pond -Past, Present and Future.

You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs!

What a fantastic job the Cornwall Council lads are doing!

Three days-in and their really moving ahead, the work should be completed by Friday 12th February.

Preserving the long-held tradition of sailing boats on Consols Pond on Good Friday, has always been one of the main objectives of the Consols Pond Association, everything now appears to be on schedule for 2nd April.

Have you seen the pond!

Take a good look at the image to the right; other than in photographs it will hopefully never look like this again!

Yes, finally the pond clearance is underway, and what a fantastic job the Cornwall Council lads are doing. With just over seven weeks to go to Good Friday - it all looks very positive.

So, if you have a model boat, preferably the traditional sailing boat, please get it out now and dust it off ready for the big day!!!

Pictures of the clearance in progress will be uploaded to this blog later this week.

Fund Raising Event

Our talk and slide show 'Colourful St Ives in the 1950s' presented by Brian Stevens - raised £165 so that will help to swell the coffers. The slides which had been donated to the St Ives Museum were wonderful and showed the St Ives of my childhood. I wasn't actually born in the 1950s you understand, but throughout the years that I was growing up that was pretty much the way it looked.

So a very big 'Thank You' to Brian from myself and the Consols Pond Association Committee, your help and support is much appreciated.

More fund raising events to come in the not to distant future.

WATCH THIS SPACE!

Ok - So I'm Over-Enthusiastic!

The timing of the approval that was needed to carry out the clearance of the pond, has meant that Cornwall Council have now said that work will begin on Monday 8th February - that's Feast Day in St Ives. Although this is a slight set-back, it does mean that by this time in two weeks the pond should be clear of weed, silt and gravel. This means that the Good Friday boat sailing will be able to go ahead this year (2010). It also means that, subject to the funding application being successful, other plans for the pond should be able to go ahead before the summer.

Fund raising will continue - Don't forget Brian Stevens - Talk and Slide show on Monday 1st Feb. Details of which can be found in previous posts.

Real progress at last! Approval has been granted by the Environment Agency for the mega clearance work in the pond to be carried out. Cornwall Council are now coordinating their workforce and the digger contractor to confirm the exact date that the work will start. It is hoped that the work will begin next week (w/b 1st February).

An announcement will be made at the Talk and Slide show event taking place next Monday, (see details in previous blog) and an update will appear on this blog as soon as the confirmation has been received.

Exciting stuff!!!

Update on Pond Clearance

Model Boats in Consols Pond on Good Friday 2010?

Well it certainly appears much more hopeful now.

It looks as though the clearance of Consols Pond will begin on Monday 1st February. Cornwall Council is expecting to get the go-ahead from the Environment Agency on Friday 22nd January. Once the Approval has been received, the Council can instruct their workforce and the plant contractor (who unfortunately needs at least two days notice) this means that nothing would start until the middle of next week, it has therefore been decided that it would be best to begin work on the 1st February.

All-being-well, Consols Pond Association will be able to announce that work has indeed begun, at their fundraising event on the evening of the 1st February. The details of this event can be viewed in one of the earlier postings. Hopefully, the pond will never again look like it does in the picture above, which was taken in August 2009.

So, get your sailing boats ready, it looks as though the water will be beckoning for the traditional Good Friday event!

Pond Clearance Imminent

The long awaited clearance of pond weed, silt and gravel from Consols Pond is imminent. Conversations with the Environment Agency and Cornwall Council suggest that work may start on Monday 25th January.

Watch this space for confirmation!!

Talk and Slide show to raise funds for Consols Pond Association

Consols Pond Association

Presents


A talk and slide show
By
Brian Stevens
Curator of St Ives Museum


Monday 1st February 2010 at 7pm
St Ives Infants School
(Free Parking)


Advance Tickets £3.00 Tickets on the Door £4.00


Purchase your advance tickets at the Tourist Information Office at The Guildhall, St Ives or
By telephone on: 01209-715650

Refreshments and Raffle

Keeping The Tradition Alive

Consols Pond is a former mining pond situated at grid ref: SW50584 39895, Hellesveor, St Ives. For approximately 100 years it has been used by the community of St Ives to sail modal yachts on Good Friday and by youngsters fishing for tadpoles, newts and sticklebacks to name but a few. In more recent years, probably due to parental fears keeping children closer to home, less and less children have used the pond for pond dipping.

Unfortunately, due to a breakdown in communications the pond was not cleared in time for the Good Friday boating in 2009. As a result the Consols Pond Association was formed to ensure that this important local tradition was not lost forever. In an attempt to raise community awareness of the pond, I had an information stall at the Ayr Field Fun Day event back in July. Pictures of pond creatures were displayed on the table and children were asked to match the correct name to the creature. I was astonished by the number of children who could not identify even the tadpole correctly. In an attempt to redress this situation, Consols Pond Association is looking for funding from the Lottery Awards for All Fund to install a decked platform on the Zennor Road side of the pond. This would enable easier and safer access to the pond for pond dipping events.

We are currently waiting for the Environment Agency consents and as soon as permission is received Cornwall Council will be carrying out a major clearance of the pond. Watch this space for regular updates!