Category Archives: SSSI

September news

Bosworth Marina, Mallard Mere, SSSI

Cafe’ 1804  Our staff are supporting and organizing our Macmillan Coffee Morning on 29th September. Please come along and enjoy coffee/tea and cake, raffle etc. to support this very worth cause.

The Italian Evening in August was an immediate sell out and was very successful. Thank you for all the great comments received!  Our September evening was a Greek theme and also a brilliant sucess thanks to Heidi, Will and team.

Our special Boaters and Friends evening is a ‘Pie and Pudding’ night to be held on Thursday 5th October, so please come along if you are able.  Booking beforehand is essential.
Take out drinks, sandwiches, baguettes and cakes are now available to collect and can be pre-ordered.
People Fran is now working alongside Jane and Chris to help with administration and the running of the shop.
Nathan has now been with us for three months helping us with all the ongoing maintenance both in the building and round the site.

Works We now have additional bike racks for visitors to Cafe’ 1804 and our boaters.
The cafe and visitors car park has been extended and will be made larger in the future to accommodate our increased traffic to the shop and cafe’. The steep ramp that we used for many months for access to the basin has now been taken out and is no longer in use. Ben and Nathan have started to carry out essential fencing works.

Ecological News Curious Ecologists have completed the ecological survey of the wildlife ponds for 2017 and are delighted with the progress of the establishment of this area. They comment “The ponds seem to be establishing well with good marginal growth and a variety of invertebrates present, along with a few new plant species. There are also definite signs of water voles on site”. The full survey will be produced later in the year. Natural England and the Canal and River Trust’s ecologist are also coming to have a look in early October to see all the progress.
The proud swans who hatched cygnets at the marina this year have five teenage children now.

JULY 2017 NEWS

Bosworth Marina, Harry and Sally, SSSI

Site works  The perimeter road was in use in time for the opening of Cafe 1804 and now Ben and Nathan are finishing off pathways and landscaping work.  Nearly all the trees and shrubs have survived the dry weeks of spring and early summer with lots of TLC from Chris, Gordon and Lee. The site is now maturing well and there will be a lot more planting activity on additional areas during next winter and spring.

The two new boaters’ gates are now fully operational and have proved a great success. We have also erected lots of new directional signs for boaters and visitors.

The large sheepsfoot roller and the 20 tonne excavator are no longer to be seen on the site. The roller, which was used to compact the huge quantities of engineering fill and puddle clay, has been sold to a company in Poland and our 20 tonne excavator has found a new home locally.  This signals that the basic infrastructure of the Bosworth Marina site is coming to a close. Now lots of fencing and finishing off to do!

Ecological News  It is nearly four years since we completed the two parallel ponds adjacent to the canal which are mitigation areas for the Special Site of Scientific Interest further along the canal towards Carlton…….and with brilliant results. We will publish the results of this year’s monitoring report when it is ready. Recently our swans have raised 6 cygnets between the two ponds.

Cafe news ‘Cafe 1804’ is now well and truly up and running and is proving very popular to our visitors from near and far. Pastry chef Sharon’s afternoon teas and chef Will’s food are receiving lots of well deserved praise. Congratulations to Will and Ayla who have announced their engagement.

Please Note: The Café is closed Monday – Tuesday. See the website for the cafe here for more information

Harry and Sally  The recent good weather has seen Harry and Sally, our day boat, out a lot on the Ashby Canal. Judging from the feedback from our passengers their time out on the canal has been very special and enjoyable. You can read some testimonials and see photos on the Harry and Sally website www.leicestershiredayboathire.co.uk. Our day boat Harry and Sally can visit the SSSI area on the canal.

BOSWORTH MARINA’S MALLARD MERE IS COMPLETE

Mallard Mere, News, SSSI

On August 14th the lake area adjacent to the Carlton Road was extended and the clay bank holding the water was removed. Immediately 14 ducks arrived along with 4 lapwings to inspect the work and take up residence!

The water area of this lake is over 4700 square metres and together with the SSSI habitat we have 7000 square metres of water with sloping banks and shallows for the wildlife to enjoy, in addition to the marina basin itself.

The banks and surrounding areas have now all been covered with topsoil and will be seeded later in the year.

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Late May news

News, SSSI
Due to increased demand, the chandlery and shop are to be extended in the next few weeks so that we can increase our range of boating items and groceries. Our boaters and Ashby Canal boaters are taking advantage of the wi-fi, Elsan disposal and pump out, showers, toilets and laundry, coal, fuel, gas and the lounge with coffee machine and TV.
We have put the final finish to about half of the road and car parking area along the Sheepy jetties, and we have also landscaped more areas of the 19 acre site. The imported material came in just before Whitsun to make up levels near the road entrance and the main road which leads up to Sheepy and Shenton jetties.The dozer, backacter and sheepsfoot roller were hard at work compacting the material to make a solid base for the road base hardcore to go down on.

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MAY NEWS

News, SSSI

The main activity during April on Bosworth Marina was constructing the compensation pond to protect the SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), further along the Ashby Canal. Please go to the gallery to see how Ben Trivett and the team built it!

The SSSI habitat is now complete and the water is flowing gently from the canal into the pond. The pond is built with a central bund to form two canal-like strips of water and replicates the adjacent Ashby Canal. Continue reading →