Archive News...
We have kept online important news dating back over several years for reference.
Return of the Crowfoot.
During last winter Horsell Common Preservation Society (HCPS) employed a contractor to clear vegetation from around the Warren Pond on Horsell Birch.
This work was sponsored jointly by HCPS and Plantlife International with the intention of re-establishing one of Britain 's rarest plants the three-lobed water crowfoot, Ranunculus tripartitus a member of the buttercup family. It grows in shallow pools on heathland that dry out in the summer. It appears to have gone from its former Surrey sites but is a plant that can survive for many years as dormant seed in the mud. Three-lobed water crowfoot was seen in the Warren Pond as recently as 1999, so there is a good chance that it can be resurrected.
In recent years the Warren Pond has become over-grown with scrub and the pond has silted up with fallen leaves. Trees and scrub were felled and left for six weeks to partially dry out before being chipped and taken to a Power Station in Slough that burns wood chips. A band of vegetation has been left to screen the pond from the houses and road. During the summer of 2006, the top three inches of silt from the pond will be removed to expose the dormant seeds. All being well, the seed should germinate over winter and flowering plants will be seen in the spring of 2007.
Read more about crowfoot (PDF).
