Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Bat watching (hearing) at The Millie
Sunday, March 28, 2010
March Work Party
Sunday, February 07, 2010
A New Year for the Millie
Monday, August 03, 2009
August Work Party
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
May 3rd - Dawn Chorus Day
More information on this event and the Millie in general can be found at our website http://www.themillie.info.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
March Work Party
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Millie work party January 2009
You might also be interested in our latest videos of the kingfishers and the Haymill Watermill, which can be viewed at the website http://www.haymill.info or on YouTube. Search on the keyword "Haymill" to look at all our videos
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Merry Christmas
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Come and meet us at the Burnham Christmas Fayre
The friends of Haymill Valley have a table booked and will be selling Hot Mulled Wine and Cakes, so please come along and meet the team, any of whom will be happy to tell you more about the Haymill Valley Nature Reserve and give you an information leaflet. You can also learn more at www.themillie.info
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Upcoming dates for 2008 work parties
Work Party dates 2008
September 7th
Sorry, but this work party has been cancelled.
October 5th
Planned Tasks: Prepare ground for new hedge to be planted along the southern boundary. This will be on the other side of the ditch, not along our path.
November 2nd
Planned Tasks: Plant new hedge in ground prepared above.
December 7th
Planned Tasks: Redirect path on west side back to the original route.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Upcoming work parties and events
Thursday December 6th – Burnham Christmas Fayre, 17:00 to 21:00
The annual Burnham Christmas Fayre will take place this year on the evening of Thursday December 6th. There will be a Victorian theme this year so come along and join in wearing appropriate fancy dress. The High Street will be closed to traffic as usual and we will have a stall selling hot mulled wine and cakes. We would be pleased to hear from volunteers to help man the stall and any offers to donate the odd bottle of red wine and home-made or bought cakes, (any kind you think would sell well). Contact Iain or Teresa.
Thursday 13th December- Our Christmas Social Evening, bring a cake, sandwiches, snacks etc. This is currently planned to be in The Haymill Centre but if it is not available on that date, (plans are afoot to close it for refurbishment), we will announce an alternative venue.
Sunday 16th December - Normal Work Party PLUS, Mince Pies, Holly and Mistletoe!
Work Party on Sunday 18th November
Lost treasures included the front headlight section of a motorbike, one car tyre (where are the other 3?), bits of drainpipe and a metal handle from an unknown device. To access the depths Iain dusted off his fishing waders last worn on the River Dee in Aberdeen.
Monday, November 05, 2007
October 10th Work Party pics
The Bannister's at work!!
Grandson: "Goodness, Grandma, what big teeth you've got!"
Grandmother: "Yes, it's a bow saw"
If anyone has any more they would like to see on the site, please email us at friendsofhaymillvalley@yahoo.co.uk
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Woolley Firs Open Day!
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Breathing Places Lottery Grant & Britwell Carnival
Unfortunately we did not get the Breathing Places lottery grant. The reason they gave is that all projects had to be completed within 12 months. My interpretation was that the project was the purchase of the tools which would be done in a few weeks once we received the monies but their's seems to be that the tools will be used for longer than 12 months. In reality I expect that they were overwhelmed with applications and had to find any means they could to whittle them down to the ones they could afford to pay.
However, all is not lost as at the last Work Party Fran delivered a number of tools and tool bags along with the Tea Kit and we are finding out about funds held by BBOWT assigned for Haymill Valley's use.
BRITWELL & NORTHBOROUGH CARNIVAL
On Saturday June 23rd the Friends of Haymill Valley will attend the Britwell and Northborough Carnival at the Britwell Parish Community Centre, Long Furlong Drive. We have a free stall and the intent is raise awareness of our reserve and our work in the Britwell area ("the other side"). The carnival starts at 13:00 and stalls will be set up on grass outside the Parish Comunity Centre from about 11:00 onwards. If you are interested in helping on the day please contact Iain Hillier on 01784 220129 (day time) or 01628 669033 evenings / weekends.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Wildlife in the Millie in Spring!
Monday, March 19, 2007
AGM
Here are the minutes from our Secretary, Brian Hollins:
The Friends of
Haymill Valley
Nature Reserve
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Thursday 15th March 2007, 7:00pm
at The Haymill Centre, Burnham Lane, Slough
Present: Andy Paton (Chairman)
Brian Hollins (Secretary)
Teresa Hillier (Treasurer)
Iain Hillier (Publicity Officer)
Fran Thompson (BBOWT Berkshire Community Wildlife Officer)
Joan Woodward
John Woodward
Karen Bintcliffe
Rian Van Spaandonk
Barry Bannister
Tony Short
1) The Minutes of the meeting of 18th January were approved subject to the correction of the date published therein of the AGM. The month was incorrectly shown as April. This should have been March. This was corrected in News Letter Number 01 which was circulated on 19th February 2007.
2) Chairman’s ReportAndy opened by saying it was sad that this was the last time Fran would be with us and thanked her on our behalf for the support she had given to The Group and wished her well for the future.He also thanked everyone for their good teamwork at the last work party.Andy felt that, following a recent visit to Wooley Firs by himself together with Theresa Vernie-Brookes, Haymill Valley looked poor in comparison with other reserves but that we had achieved much and could move forward on a positive note.Fran agreed with this and said we had done well in only one year and could only move on to better things.A meeting between Andy and Slough Borough Council has been arranged to discuss the repairs to fencing and the weir at the south end of the site. The work required on the weir is considered to be a major priority project.A small group of residents in Littlebrook Avenue were known to have approached a Councilor and requested that the gates in to the reserve should be kept locked. Andy has made our position clear on this and advised that we would not agree to this request. Andy has also spoken to The Council regarding the original Charter defining the operation of the Millie and assured us that there will be no locked gates.Andy closed by proposing a big vote of thanks to Fran for her successful work through BBOWT on our behalf during the last year. Fran replied to this by saying she has enjoyed working with us.
3) Secretary’s ReportBrian gave an update on the membership list and advised that all the people on the spreadsheet provided by Fran had been contacted by email or telephone to establish whether they are still interested. This resulted in a very positive response and the numbers now stand at 39 active or interested in becoming involved. A slightly revised spreadsheet has now been created with each person being given a status of Active, Interested or New. Active people have attended at least one work party or other organized event. Interested people have stated that they would like to attend in the future and asked to be kept informed of our activities. New People had expressed an interest at the Wildlife Homes Open Day on Sunday 18th February but had not yet taken part.Brian asked for suggestions on how to keep people informed if they did not have email, (the easiest and quickest method). The two alternative ways to distribute News Letters, Minutes etc was by hand to each address or by normal mail. Fortunately, some of the affected people live in fairly close proximity to the reserve, for example, a number are in Littlebrook Avenue, and only three have so far had to be mailed. Teresa advised that if stamps were obtained to facilitate mailings she could reimburse the money provided a receipt was obtained. Brian said that that should be satisfactory and that a record of all stamps used would be kept.Brian then outlined the current situation with regard to recording the bird population in the reserve. There was some information already provided by Karen and Iain advised that he had borrowed an extensive number of log sheets from Don Lindskog covering bird numbers sited over a period of a few years. He would pass copies to Brian to be used as a starting point for an ongoing log.Brian asked if Karen could provide a short written instruction on how to post new items on the Web log and she said this would be done. Karen asked that the minutes of the AGM be posted on the Web log and this was agreed. She advised that she would post them in this instance when she received her copy.Finally, Brian reported the successful return of some stolen property which had been dumped in the reserve. This was discovered during the Wildlife Homes day. A small briefcase and a large number of student course notes had been returned to the rightful owner. He was delighted to have his property returned and was given information on work party dates in case he wished to join us.
4) Treasurer’s ReportTeresa advised that the existing bank account has been revitalized with the new signatory’s names now in place, (as agreed at the meeting on 18th January 2007).There was a starting balance in the account of £39.34 and a donation to the Group of £250.00 by BAA, thanks to Barry, has increased this to the current amount of £289.34.Teresa advised that any expense claims against the petty cash account could only be reimbursed if accompanied by receipts. The Lottery officials require a copy of our annual accounts, which will be supplied to them to support our application for a donation under “Breathing Spaces”. Iain thanked everyone for their great effort on behalf of this application, which we hope will be successful.
5) Publicity Officer’s ReportIain said that after the successful press reports and photographs in the local papers regarding our Wildlife Homes day, the local press have asked to be kept informed of future planned events which would be publicised beforehand.Fran said that BBOWT had a fund which was used to support organized events such as Open Days, Guided Walks, Wildlife related talks etc. Suggestions as to what we might organise to publicise the reserve and increase awareness generally would be welcomed by Iain.A discussion regarding the Breathing Spaces application resulted in the agreement, in the event that our application is not successful, to approach BBOWT with a view to obtaining tools. Iain advised that we have a number of bird and bat boxes, supplied by Martin Woolner who attended the Wildlife Homes day, which could be installed at the reserve or could be sold to raise funds. This raised the issue of Working Party health and safety regarding working on ladders. Fran said she will look into this and provide BBOWT leaflets covering safe working methods and the correct use of tools.Iain then tabled the calendar of event dates for the remainder of 2007.Four amendments were made; The planned social event following the work party on Saturday 14th April will take place in The Squirrel pub at the junction of Burnham Lane and Haymill Road. The work party tasks will be the installation of the spare nestboxes.The work party planned for 11th November has been moved to 18th November as 11th is remembrance Sunday.The date for the Christmas Social should be shown as Thursday 13th December, not 14th.(The dates of all planned events so far for 2007 will be in the next newsletter.)The dates of our events for the period May to July will be included in the Wildlife Diary which is produced by BBOWT and sent out to all members.Iain has also contacted our local Round and About publishers and they are interested in including news of our activities and events. Iain is preparing a 200-word article for inclusion in the next edition.
6) Any Other BusinessFran officially finishes on 5th April and therefore Theresa Vernie-Brookes will be our BBOWT representative at the next work party. Fran will also try to be there to ensure a smooth handover.Fran promised to send Brian information and a CD of photographs relating to activities during her time with us at the Millie. Before she leaves, she will obtain for us a large thermos container to be used as a trial for tea making. If this is not successful, it will be exchanged for a gas operated burner kit.Fran advised that there is £500 in the BBOWT budget for the reserve which she can spend before the end of the current financial year. Since this is within the next few weeks, she will use it to procure a selection of useful materials and literature for us which she will bring to our next work party.Fran handed over a pack of Volunteer Registration Forms and Volunteer Emergency Contact Forms for our use together with two sets of Conservation Volunteering leaflets which provide information on many of the tasks we need to undertake at the reserve...Fran announced that there will be a BBOWT Open Day at Wooley Firs in Maidenhead on 20th May. She advised that, if we wished, we could have a small publicity stand at the event and to contact Theresa Vernie-Brookes if we wanted to do this. Iain pointed out that this was the same date that he and Caroline Harrington were booked on a first aid course, also at Wooley Firs. Fran said she would check whether this was known by BBOWT and confirm that the course was still on.(Note: Subsequent to the AGM Fran has confirmed by email that BBOWT are aware of the situation and that the First Aid course will still go ahead as planned.)It was agreed to cancel the work party planned for 20th May so that we can support the BBOWT Open Day. Also, an informal get together after the Open Day has been planned. Meet at The Noodle Bar in Maidenhead at 7:00 pm. (Details will be in next newsletter.)Fran advised that there could be BBOWT funding available for a site worker to look after children on work parties etc. We should speak to Theresa Vernie-Brookes regarding this. Theresa’s working days are Monday, Wednesday and Thursday.Finally, Fran said she had made a visit to The Priory School to inform the children about the reserve and that she had had a good reception. She recommended that we follow up this contact and possibly arrange a guided tour, (or tours), for the children.
The meeting closed at 9:20 pm.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Successful Litterpick
We also managed to take all this out of the reserve:
A big thank you to everyone who braved the rain!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Increasing and improving water levels....
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
18th Feb: Wildlife Homes Discovery Day
The day was a great succes. Many bird boxes and stag beetle homes were made and there were two guided tours through the Millie.
The current copy of the Slough Express has got a 2-page article on the day, with photos!
=====================================================
Wildlife Homes Discovery Day at Haymill on Sunday 18th February 12pm -3pm
An afternoon of activities to celebrate National Nest Box Week, make your own nest box and learn how to attract wildlife to your garden.
If anyone is interested in helping to organise and/or help on the day please call Fran at BBOWT (01628 829574). Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Work Party Pictures 20th January 2007
Monday, December 25, 2006
Happy Chistmas!
Thanks to everyone for all your hard work this year.
We now have a constitution! :-) and our application for BBC Breathing Spaces has been sent off....fingers crossed!!!
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Christmas Social
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Sunday 12th November
BIG LITTER PICK
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Sunday 29th October
Thank you to everyone who turned up today!!! We cleared a path all the way through to the stream and widened the areas leading up to it. We also started cutting back the nettles and overgrowth along Littlebrook Avenue, just outside the Millie.
These were some of the group who came along today....
Tea break!!! And time for a meeting and update....
Photos to follow of what we achieved today...
Saturday, October 28, 2006
8th October mini Work party
On 8th October, 3 of us set out to block off an existing path at the Thames Water end of the site and clear a path up towards the ditch, with a view of creating a new path all the way up to the stream. We got as far as the ditch and these were some of the 'after' pictures!
Picture 1: Cleared up to the ditch!
Picture 2: The blocked off entrance and the cleared path.