Just a quick blog to pass on some exciting news - work has started on our new hide! This will be the first fully enclosed hide here at Lakenheath and thanks to the WREN grant that we received late last year, we're able to develop this facility for our visitors.
Yesterday the pilings went in. These will support the base and full structure of the hide and the platform leading away from the door. As you can imagine, they need to be very sturdy poles and be driven in a long way. This task was too big even for Dave and his fencing mell so we were lucky enough to draft in our friendly digger driver Paul to help. Trevor from the hide company was on hand to ensure the pilings went in where needed and volunteer Nigel also got stuck in. Although I was taking lots of photos of the action, I did get involved in the manual work too, I promise!
Here are some photos of the whole process:
Photo credit: Dave and Trevor measure up the area for a final time
Photo credit: Ali Blaney - Paul holds the driven in telegraph pole in place while Dave cuts it off at a certain height
Photo credit: Ali Blaney - the fifth piling goes in, Dave and Trevor checking the levels
Photo credit: Ali Blaney - the eighth piling being directed into the correct spot
Photo credit: Ali Blaney - the final piling is in for the platform up to the hide
The job went very smoothly and the weather was kind to us! No doubt you're looking at the photos and thinking 'surely the hide isn't going to be that high off the ground...' and you would be correct! The pilings have been cut to a height that is above the level we want, the hide company themselves will cut them down further and get them properly level to their needs when they come in to construct the hide. The water level has also been dropped off in this reedbed so the work can take place and when putting the hide in we need to allow for the highest potential water level, to make sure our visitors don't get wet feet in the hide itself! We're hoping construction will happen early next week, however the weather forecast is looking particularly dire for Monday so this may have to be postponed.
Even when the hide goes in, visitors will not be able to access it straight away as we need to connect up the hide location to the main track. Work started on this today - Paul has done great job scraping out the first section of the path and covering it with stone. This will need a bit of finishing off with a layer of limestone dust and a roller at some point.
Photo credit: David White - the new stone section of the path to the hide
From the end of the stone track, a length of boardwalk through the reedbed will be the final connection to the hide. Visitors will have to wait until we've constructed the boardwalk before the grand opening of the hide - we'll be getting round to this as soon as we can but you'll have to be patient for a little while longer. The end of the new stone path that connects up to the main track will be taped off for the time being with a sign to explain why - the path doesn't lead anywhere just yet so we would ask kindly that visitors wait until the official opening before heading off down that track - you'll only get wet at the end after all!
We'll keep you posted with the thrilling developments here at Lakenheath Fen and hope you're as excited about our new hide as we are!