There is something very special and calming about being next to water. It's why we create water features in our gardens, such as ponds and fountains, and why we flock to the coast to holiday. When we find water we often find our place, most of our settlements are built next to rivers and springs, and when we reach the sea or a lake, we often feel that we have arrived, with no possibility, or desire, to go further, at least by land anyway.
The sound of moving water is extremely therapeutic and in nature changes by the day, as river levels rise and fall, and on how fast it's flowing. Just a few rocks in the path of a gently flowing river can create a short section of mini rapids that are a delight to our senses. They are oases for those of us that feel landlocked and far from the sea in particular. Where I live now, after rain I can often smell the nearby lake, and when I used to live close to the ocean, I could smell it, especially on a warm summer evening. Gazing at the water is as age old a practice for us humans as it is to gaze into the flames of camp fire.
Water can transform our mood in a moment and is something to be cherished and this is why I think it's important to celebrate the various ponds, lakes and rivers that we have in Yate. Yate Wetlands don't exist as a single entity, not even on paper, but given the surprising number of water bodies that are scattered throughout the area, I think they deserve a collective mention! The stories behind the wetlands of Yate are also interesting, as I believe they are all man made, except for the rivers of course, and reflect the different industries and forms of land management that have shaped the area and its wildlife over the millennia.
Kingsgate Park & Nature Reserve, Westerleigh Common, the 'Spar Pools', the old brick works, Tan House and Bitterwell lakes, Barnhill Quarry, as well as, the River Frome that flows through the town, and the very picturesque stone footbridge and ford, used to cross a tributary of Ladden Brook (that flows into the Frome), at Yate Rocks, mean that Yate has a surprising collection of wetlands that provide very special wildlife habitats and beautiful recreational areas.
Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil, or is present either at, or near, the surface of the soil, all year, or for varying periods of time during the year. There are two general categories of wetlands: coastal or tidal wetlands and inland or non-tidal.
It is no surprise therefore, that the rain-drenched lands of the UK offer the perfect conditions for the formation of inland wetlands. It might come as a surprise however, that the UK has one of the longest coast lines of any country in the world, an incredible 12,500 km of it, which is almost the same as China and more than both Brazil and India! This lengthy coastline provides ample opportunity for coastal or tidal wetlands too.
Indeed there are many well-known examples of both types of wetlands in the UK, such as the Somerset Levels, the Severn estuary and the Norfolk Broads. Given the UK's vast coastline and wet interior, many of our largest wetlands are closely linked to its estuaries such as the Severn, Mersey, Thames and the Wash to name a few, where sea water mixes with fresh water to form an environment of varying salinities.
The town of Yate lies inside the River Severn basin, at the foot of the Cotswold escarpment. The River Frome, which has its source in the escarpment, flows through the town before joining the River Avon in the centre of Bristol, some 12 miles to the south west, which discharges into the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth, 7 miles downstream from Bristol. Yate is approximately 15 miles from the the western bank of the Severn estuary.
The Severn is one of the most dynamic estuarine systems in the world and one of the most important estuaries in the UK for wintering waterbirds, especially swans, ducks and waders. The Severn's intertidal habitat, the area of mud, marsh and sand exposed at low tide, is one of the largest and most important for wildlife in Britain, providing both an overwintering ground and an important stop-over site for migratory species. The Severn Estuary sits on the northern section of the 'East Atlantic Flyway', a bird migration route that stretches from Siberia where summer breeding artic birds, fly across Europe and down to Africa to bulk up and avoid the northern winter.
The landscapes and habitats of the Yate area were first shaped by man about 3 to 5,000 years ago, when late Neolithic and Bronze Age people cleared the woodland to graze animals and grow crops. In the Middle Ages, farmers were producing a variety of crops including corn and pulses, and keeping large numbers of animals, especially sheep, which would have grazed the meadows. The importance of animal raising in this period was evident with the establishment of a market in Yate in 1218. By the 1700's dairy farming dominated the landscape with over 40 farms in the Yate area. In 1842 the parish of Yate had 360 acres of arable land, 2,400 acres of pasture land, 80 acres of woodland, and over 600 acres of common land as well as approximately 25 farms.
In Yate, Westerleigh Common is the biggest expanse of public open space. This is often the case in many towns and villages of England that are surrounded otherwise by countryside and farmland that is under private ownership. Likewise the only significant public open space in the neighbouring town and hamlet of Chipping Sodbury and Little Sodbury respectively, are their commons. Originally in medieval England the common was an integral part of the manor, and was thus part of the estate held by the lord of the manor under a feudal grant from the Crown which owned all land.
There were three main manors in the Yate area; Yate Court, Brinsham and Stanshawes. This manorial system, founded on feudalism, granted rights of land use to different classes. A commoner was the person who occupied, under agreement, a particular plot of common land. Today common land is owned by the local authority within whose jurisdiction the particular common lies.
Westerleigh Common today consists of approx 100 acres and has mixed habitats of woodlands, scrub and grasslands which were grazed until recently but are now harvested for hay each autumn. The common has three ponds of varying sizes, two of which are seasonal and I believe were dug as part of a partial 're-wilding of the common in the 1970's. The centre one, which is the largest, sits on what was locally known as a 'rhine' or brook that keeps it at least partially full all year. A ‘rhine’/‘rhyne’ is derived from the old English word ‘ryne’, meaning "ditch", which was used to turn areas of wetland, normally close to sea level, into useful pasture.
The map above which is from the turn of the 20th century shows the rhine running down from Stanshawes Court and west across the common, under the Gloucester to Bristol railway line, and then north-west to join the River Frome near Stover Road in Yate. The common was levelled during the second world war when it was utilised as a prisoner of war camp and is often still referred to locally today as the 'German fields'. The 'Fox Covert', an old hunting term for a thicket or area of rough vegetated land, covered in gorse for example, where a fox might hide during a hunt, is clearly visible on the map. This covert a was cleared and additional smaller rhines dug to level the common for its occupation during the war.
After agriculture, the next industry to have a major impact on the landscape of Yate was quarrying. Limestone has been quarried in Yate for centuries, originally by farmers on their lands for use in construction, including for building St. Mary's church in Yate, and also as a source of lime for ameliorating farmland. It was also quarried for use in road construction and by the 20th century quarrying was a major industry in the area especially in Chipping Sodbury and provided employment for hundreds of local people. One of the limestone quarries, Barnhill, is now disused and is half-filled with water, and while there is no public access, a quite dramatic view can be gained, from Quarry Bank road, of the quarry and its amazing rock formations that have contributed to it being recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Yate was also a centre of coal-mining. References to early opencast mines in Yate appear from 1608 when demand was driven due to the diminishing supply of woodland timber. The early mines in the area were shallow (less than 100 feet below ground surface) but the industry flourished in the 19th century due to the demand created by Bristol’s industrial development, the use of steam powered pumping engines to drain the mines, and the opening of the Bristol and Gloucester railway in 1844.
The Yate coalfield consisted of eight mines that were at their peak from 1830 to 1890 employing many local people. The most well-known was Yate Colliery, which had two shafts, called Number 1 and 2. A later Colliery on Eggshill Lane operated between 1890 and 1916. According to the South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group, the quality of the local coal while harder to work, than areas where the seams were thicker, was of such a quality that it was still profitable, and the coal from Westerleigh in particular, was graded as steam coal and therefore attracted a premium.
Unlike the quarrying industry, which has left huge marks on the local landscape, coal mining left few above ground changes despite mine shafts still to this day running under what is modern day Yate, including Westerliegh common. Bitterwell Pond, to the south of Yate was excavated by the collieries to supply water for various mining activities and is indicated on maps of the area in the late 1800s. Today, known as Bitterwell lake, it's a popular publicly owned fishing and recreational spot. The lake at Tan House farm, while close to the former lime kilns and coalfields centred around Engine Common to north of Yate, is not however indicated on maps of the turn of the 20th century so must have come after these early industries and is therefore more likely to be related to celestine production or processing.
Celestine mining however did change the Yate landscape and significantly contributed to the establishment of its wetlands. There are several small, disused open-cast celestine mine pits, close to Yate Shopping Centre which are now grassy tree-lined seasonal pools.
These former mines were part of a much larger series of open-cast hand dug mines, that for over 100 years, were the world's primary source of the attractive crystalline mineral, 'Celestine' (strontium sulphate), until extraction ceased in 1994. The attractive Cooper's lake in the north of Yate is also a former Celestine mine and is often referred to as the 'Spar Pools' after the local name given to Celestine.
The network of both round and long narrow pools in the Kingsgate Nature Reserve, are also believed to be old open-cast celesitine mines.
Kingsgate Park is today, what is left of the former elegant gardens of the Stanshawe Manor house, which includes magnificent specimen trees and a more recent large shallow ornamental pond. Kingsgate Nature Reserve is perhaps the most accessible of the Yate wetland habitats given its located close to the centre of the town.
Brick manufacturing also contributed significantly to the establishment of wetland habitats in Yate. The Bristol based, Hollybrook Brickwork Company, started to make bricks in Yate during the 1930s, including the extraction of large quantities of clay that has left behind a deep lake just to the east of Westerleigh common that is surrounded by attractive woodland.
The wetlands of Yate that I refer to in this article, are primarily those which are on public land, these include Kingsgate Park and Nature Reserve, Westerleigh Common, Coopers Lake and Bitterwell Lake. Tan House lake, on the outskirts of Yate, is on private land but the public can access it if they pay to fish. There are also significant water bodies that have no, or limited public access, such as the old brick works off of Westerleigh Road in Yate.
Ponds are some of the richest habitats in the UK, sometimes supporting more special plants and insects as nearby rivers. Some specialist species live mainly in ponds, including the great-crested newt, that is resident in Kingsgate Nature Reserve. I have seen grass snakes gliding over the surface of the ponds on Westerleigh common as well as several species of dragonflies.
Rivers in the UK are home to salmon and trout, which I haven't seen in Yate, but I have seen crayfish in the River Frome at Chipping Sodbury, which is a regionally important habitat for the native white-clawed crayfish. Perhaps the most picturesque and biodiverse section of the river in Yate is the stretch between Kennedy Way and the Shopping centre. Kingfishers are also seen regularly along the wooded parts of river in Yate and Chipping Sodbury. Ironically this section was partially re-routed when Yate Shopping Centre was developed in the 1960's! The meandering Frome, has a 18-mile (29 km) long riverside footpath (the Frome Valle Way), running from its source, just north of Yate in the Cotswold escarpment, to the point where it meets the river Avon in the centre of Bristol.
Lakes in the UK are particularly important for aquatic plants, supporting one of the most diverse floras in Europe, and are home to many birds, fish and plants. The lake and ponds in Kingsgate Park, and the lake at the old brickworks, have resident Swans and numerous species of geese, ducks, such as gadwalls, and moorhens and coots, which are not ducks, but members of the family of birds known as 'Rails'. Most of the ponds and lakes in the Yate area are well stocked with native fish species and most are fished for sport today.
Combined, the Wetlands of Yate provide important habitats for wildlife, and for residents they are important recreational areas where nature can be easily enjoyed first hand. They also reveal some of the interesting industrial heritage of Yate and the surrounding area.
References and links
http://avonrigsoutcrop.blogspo...
http://www.yateheritage.co.uk/...
https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-wo...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
https://www.wildlifetrusts.org...
http://publications.naturaleng...
https://www.nationalarchives.g...
http://www.cchahistory.ca/jour...
https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-wo...
https://maps.nls.uk/view/95749...
http://www.fromewalkway.org.uk...