March 2009

Welcome …

Friends Membership - We now have 175  households as members.  Our thanks to all of you who have joined.  Please encourage your friends and neighbours to join too and help us make a difference. They can print a form off our website www.nickeyline.org or ring 01582 622771.

*** Website Competition***  See our website www.nickeyline.org to enter our great Website Prize Quiz.  It’s easy - all the answers are on the Nickey Line website - you just have to find them and you can win a free signed edition of Sue and Geoff Woodwards' super book on the Nickey Line 'Branch Line to Hemel Hempstead'.  We shall pick the winner at our AGM on 14th May. Who can resist such a challenge? Have a go!

*** Our AGM *** will be Thursday 14th May at 7.30pm at Park Hall, Harpenden.  Free refreshments. Presentations on the Nickey Line Plan and the Heritage Trails Project. The committee does a lot of work to maintain the Nickey Line and run events. We welcome your support. Come along and give us your feedback.

What’s Happening on the Nickey Line:

M1 – The tunnel is at last open, lit throughout its length, with a tarmac surface
  
Harpenden Luton Road steps – We have been told the steps will cost about £12000 to re-install. 'When we have a firm quote from St Albans DC we shall be putting together a grant application to Lafarge for the vast majority of this and are hoping we can persuade St Albans to fund the rest.  If you are (were) a user of the steps and would like to see them back in use, please email or write to us and your local councillor supporting re-establishing the steps. 

Work Parties  - Several work parties have taken place at Knott Wood. Views across the Ver valley have been opened up again, and we will be managing the strip of ground by Knott Wood as a wildlife habitat. The hazel stools resulting from coppicing last year have struggled to re-grow because of rabbit grazing, and protective piles of brash have been erected around the stools to protection them. Between the Ambrose Lane and Holly Bush Lane steps, small sycamore, ash, holly and elder have been removed and burnt, while St Albans DC are kindly purchasing small hazel, thorn and other suitable species to provide lower level cover to help restrict sycamore seedlings getting established.

The young trees planted a year ago alongside the Redbourn bypass near Redbourn Lane have nearly all taken, while CMS have recently laid a section of hedge between the picnic area at Redbourn and the Nickey Line.

New Interpretation Board – We have received the board and we shall be installing it near Knott Wood. 

Notice board at Roundwood School crossing – Harpenden Town Council have kindly provided us with a replacement second hand board. This is being smartened up before being inserted. 

Dog Bags – St Albans DC has installed dog bag dispensers to help dog owners tidy up after their pets. Please do use them!

Your Nickey Line Stories and Photos – *** Please send us your favourite stories and pictures of the Nickey Line for publication on our new website  *** 

Newsletters. If you receive your newsletters by post, please let us know if we can deliver them to you by email instead.  Quicker and saves us time and money…….Thanks.

EVENTS PLANNED – Dates for Your Diary – Contact 01582 622771 for details:
Work Party, Thursday 12 March at 10am near the mainline - On the next work party we will be planting the trees mentioned above, meeting between the two sets of steps. Contact Roger on 01582 763560 or roger.thornhill76@ntlworld.com if you intend to come, or if interested in joining future work parties.

A Spring Watch Walk from Roundwood and back, Sunday 3 May at 10.45am  - Join the Friends on a nature walk, starting at the Roundwood School crossing on the Nickey Line at 10.45am.. We will walk to the far end of Knott Wood and back, a distance of about 2 miles, possibly using different paths on the return. Bring stout footwear.  Contact Roger (see above) for details

Walk in the Redbourn area, Sunday 17 May at 10.45am - Join the Friends on an approx 4.5 km (3 miles) circular walk starting from Redbourn Common car park. The walk will be via Beaumont Hall and Dane End Farm. Bring stout footwear. Contact Doug on 01582 762120 for details.

The Lost Railways of  Hemel Hempstead, Saturday 20 June at 11.20am - Friends of the Nickey Line are offering you the chance to learn about the lost end of the Nickey Line between the old Boxmoor Station and the Midland Inn in Midland Road on a leisurely walk led by Roger Green, a local railway enthusiast and walker. The walk will leave Hemel Hempstead Station at 11.10am or as soon after the No 320 bus from Harpenden and Redbourn arrives. There is the option to have lunch at the Midland Inn, and to leave the walk there, or to complete the circular walk back to the start point. Hourly No 320 buses are available if needed. Contact Roger for details

Evening Bat Walk in the summer - Bats are best identified by listening to their calls with electronic detectors, and CMS have kindly offered to lead a bat finding walk on a summer evening. They are also running a course on the use of bat detectors  The evening walk is likely to be limited to just 6 persons, although we will try and run a further course if there is the demand. Contact Roger (see above) to register your interest in the walk/course.  First come first served!! We hope to agree dates in the next few weeks.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS – Welcome to Frank Griffin from Hemel Hempstead joining the committee. 
A big hello to our Redbourn readers – we would love one of you to join us too. Why not come along to the AGM and have a chat about what you could do to help?

Nickey Line Walk 5 - (see Walks pages)