Fryent Country Park acts like a giant sponge in periods of sustained heavy rain. Some of the ponds and ditches overflow dispersing into the meadows and the meadows become saturated. Much of the excess water ends up in the Gaderbrook.
The video above shows the Gaderbrook at its fullest and you can even hear the rush of the water above the noise from the road and the Jubilee tube line.
Barn Hill Conservation Group is working on the banks of the Gaderbrook at the moment. They are an amazing group who were hard at work this morning, in the rain in the area around Barn Hill Pond. They are always in need of volunteers so if you want to get plenty of exercise during winter lockdown get in touch. This is what they posted about their work (edited):
GADERBROOK AND PRESTON EASTFIELD
The aim of the work here is to restore this section of the Gaderbrook stream alongside Preston Eastfield.
The Gaderbrook arises from the surface water ditches of the meadows and hedgerows in Fryent Country Country Park. It also takes surface water from Fryent Way and from parts of the suburban estate between here and Kingsbury Road, That area is due to the countours of the local geology.
Alongside the Gaderbrook, the work aims to reduce scrubeso that the stream receives more light. That should encourage wildflowers and inprove the view of the streamside.
Within Preston Eastfield, a hedgerow will be created (or restored?) from a line of scrub trees, set back from the streamside. On the other side of that hedgerow the footpath is being widened.
The aim? A more attractive path, a hedgerow and streamside habitats.
While we hope that more plants will establish in the improved light, you may occasionally notice that the stream is polluted (Ed: see last frames of the video). This is due to wrongly connected plambing from propertis that feed into the strean. If you notice this, please report it to the Environment Agency pollution hotline.
Barn Hill Conservation Group LINK
