During the coronavirus lockdown local residents have taken the time during their daily exercise to discover and explore places they have never visited before including Clare Lake, tucked away off Blacklands, with its meadow area and array of birdlife.  They will have seen the resident swans building their nest last year despite the fact that the remaining cygnet from the previous brood seemed reluctant to leave - perhaps recognising that it's no time to travel n the current climate! - and subsequently will have watched the new cygnets grow and spread their own wings. We are due more cygnets any time now.

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The Lake (or Millpond as some prefer to call it as East Malling's Lower Mill was set here, at the northern end) is set in the historic former parkland of Grade I Clare House, a neo-classical villa built by John Larking in 1793 who bought several hundred acres from Sir Roger Twisden of Bradbourne House. Most of the remaining parkland of Clare House is now within the grounds of The Malling School and we are incredibly fortunate as a community to have public access to the Lake area. 

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Volunteers have been working with the School over several years to restore and improve the Lake and meadow – and even won an Environmental Champions Award in 2017 from Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council and Veolia for their efforts! 

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You can see from the first several photos in the slideshow below what we were faced with when we first started.  Substantial tree work had taken place and the site was looking rather forlorn. It needed a helping hand in more ways than one. 

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In terms of the Lake itself, an important early step in the restoration process was to improve water quality and to do this the Lake was de-silted and non-native fish were removed.  An electric current was passed through the water which ‘stunned’ the fish, causing them to rise to the surface.  Many of the fish showed signs of disease but those that were well enough were rehomed.   Measures have been taken since then to try to control the growth and spread of algae although this does return to some degree in the height of summer.  Floating reed beds have been installed together with a pond dipping platform for the School’s use.  A ‘hibernaculum’ – a sort of ‘bug hotel’ – has been constructed along the top of the ragstone wall to help improve biodiversity, and the hideous ‘Blacklands Wall’ is no more.  

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Community volunteers have been meeting regularly since 2016 to help with community tidy-ups.  Early on, this work included the removal of what seemed like a life-time of rubbish and rubble from the Blacklands path, which had accumulated behind the wall, in readiness for the planting of a native hedge alongside the school fence.  This has established itself well and will continue to develop until, we hope, the fence will be barely visible.  We continue to remove unwanted weeds and vegetation along this bank and add new flowering plants including Primroses and Daffodils for an early show, and Welsh Poppies, Forget-Me-Nots and some Nigella Love-in-the Mist for some follow-on colour.  We’ve attempted to sow a wildflower meadow but so far without success. Local group 'Grow 19' have joined our volunteer effort and are going to give it another go. Our man with a mower has been very successful however, and has been keeping the area by the Lake and alongside the Blacklands path mown, and these areas are now free of weeds and looking very good.  Throughout the meadow area some meandering paths have been created to provide access, and as a response to the coronavirus, and to aid social distancing, these paths have been widened.  They really do add something to what was previously a pretty inaccessible part of the site.

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There was a time when we first started when the historic ragstone wall alongside the Blacklands path was barely visible and volunteers have done well so far to uncover it and keep the ivy largely at bay.  Parts of the wall, particularly at the northern end where it trails away to nothing, have fallen into disrepair and we would like to investigate how this might be restored as part of a future phase of work.

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We would also like to look at how we can increase biodiversity yet further by introducing some bat and bird boxes.  Along with the wildflower area, we are hoping this is something with which Grow 19 will be able to help.

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I hope you agree that in the time the volunteers have been working the area has been transformed and is looking so much better, as shown in the later photographs in the slideshow.  The beauty is that the area changes constantly so there is always something different to see, experience and enjoy whether you visit in winter, spring, summer or autumn.  

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We want to go on caring for this precious space – but we need your help and by that we mean a little bit of your time.  You don’t need any experience – we usually have an ‘expert’ on hand to help distinguish between which plants to keep and which to dig out.  If gardening isn’t your thing but you hate to see litter we always have a supply of litter picking equipment with us – and children are welcome provided they are supervised by a responsible adult.

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Our volunteer sessions have just recommenced, and will continue to take place on the first Saturday of the month (April to October) starting at 10am and finishing by noon. 

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If this is an area you have enjoyed on your daily exercise, or if you want to discover it for the first time and do some volunteering outdoors in pleasant surroundings please think about coming along to future volunteer events so that we can keep the area looking it’s best for all to enjoy. To find out more please get in touch using the contact details below, including if you would like to be added to our email list so that you can receive direct messages about volunteer litter picking mornings or other Clare Lake updates.

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And a final word – there is so much wildlife at the Lake – the swans are an obvious favourite, but have you spotted the Heron or the Kingfisher?  Have you seen Water Voles?  Moths, butterflies or unusual creepy crawlies? Or perhaps you’re an expert on identifying trees, flora and fauna?  We are asking people to become ‘Clare Lake Nature Watchers’ and to record what they see.  We will be producing some sheets which we can email out but you could just as easily jot down what you see in a notebook.  Let us know every so often what you’ve spotted so that we can keep a track or how the area is developing from a wildlife and nature point of view.  If you’d like to take photos that would be great too.  Any details can be sent through to me by email.

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Michelle Tatton – Borough Councillor for East Malling and Clare Lake Volunteer Co-ordinator  

01732 521889 / 07715 957310  michelle.tatton@aol.com