For some time the far bank and the sides of Clobryn Pool have been in need of attention. Access to pegs six through to twelve is, at best, uninviting and possibly even dangerous. This has meant that pegs one through to five(a) are often the ones chosen by members. This is not an acceptable situation. The club, therefore, has decided to undertake a program of work to establish Clobryn as a realistic fourteen peg fishery with good access and fishing comfort.

Prior to the first work party the club held an open consultation with members at Clobryn. The aim here was to get as much feedback as possible, and also to establish the idea that this project will be carried out by member volunteers. It was agreed that the work required was extensive, involving major reconstruction of the path around the fishery (excluding pegs one to five(a)) and the fence partitioning the water from the adjoining farm. 

The initial planning established that much work needed to be done just to esrablish access to enable grounds work to be done safely. Many years of overgrown banking, feral trees, saplings and unwanted shrubs had to be cleared with the use of mechanical saws and a lot of muscle effort. Full health and safety measures, risk assesments and first aid provision are in place at all work parties.

Aerial View of the new path plan

Thanks to a tech-minded member we now have drone images of Clobryn to assist the fishery landscaper to plan the digging phase of the renovation (see photos) Following a committee planning meeting at Clobryn on the 16th April it was agreed that the new path will run from the entrance of the fishery, along the flat bottom of the bank and around the corner - again following the flat lie - to peg 9 or 10. The green marker on the aerial photo indicates the direction of the path. The blue marker will be the new fence which will run adjacent to the path. The red marker indicates the cut out sections of the bank. These will be wide enough to allow safe access without disturbing members fishing the pegs.

The time-scale for this work has to be realistic. This year the plan is to clear out the area at the bottom of the bank in preparation for the new fence. Once this is done then the next stage is the fence, which we will complete manually through organised work parties. Then we will be in a position to remove the existing fence. The last stage for this year will be to put in the new path. To minimise the disruption, and to ease the work burden, it is expected that the sectioning of the bank wil take place in winter of this year or early 2025.

March 23rd

The plan was to make a big bonfire and get rid of the debris, however it was a bit windy. So we changed tack and moved most of the stuff behind pegs 1-5 down to the bottom with the idea that it will get chipped. Unavoidably there will be a period wher the fishery does not look at its best but this is a case of omelette and eggs, and given the progress and effort the members have made over winter it is expected this will be sooner than later. For instance, we have now enabled several pegs to be fishable and we are in the process (Mon 25th March) of planting specialist water iris to provide interest.

On the work party we also took down a few more stumps and put up new signage. The plan for the fencing and bank is to section out behind pegs on the far bank rather than take the whole lot down. At the same time an additional path will be in place to allow access and prevent disturbance to members fishing on the pegs. The areas marked in orange are the provisional ones for sectioning, this will give much more room for rods, poles or tackle.

March 2nd

Another well attended work party. We cleared out a lot more badly overgrown, neglected scrub from behind pegs 6-9, in addition we sorted the brambles out in the water to the right of peg 5a. The fire for getting rid of the debris is not working out as well as we thought and, with this in mind, it is probably best if a chipper is hired when we get the diggers in. The post for the new fence should be measured out in the next two weeks or, at the latest, during the next work party on the 23rd of March.

February 17th

In addition to making further progress clearing small trees and shrubs, we tackled the corner of the pool around pegs 8-9. This turned out to be a really rewarding session. Not only are the pegs in that corner now fishable - very much so if two or three mates are fishing together - also the clearance of the badly overgrown shrubs and bramble means more light to the area, and more oxygen in the water. The next stage for this section is to get some water lillies which should be nice for the summer. Another work party is planned for the end of February and will be confirmed soon.

October 28-February 3rd

All four work parties since the hard graft started have been well attended. This is important as it enables progress to be good as well as keeping the cost to the club, so far, to a minimum. One more  clear up effort, on February 17th, will put us in the position to start the fence reconstruction of which planning and costs will be posted here shortly. On a general note, it is unavoidable that disruption will take place at intervals during the year and this will, inevitably cause inconvinience. In addition there will be some mess which we will endevour to keep to a minimum. We would ask members who may find this a problem to try to be patient and think of the overall benefits when the work is done.

Fencing

Thanks to the planning and costing done by two experienced club members we now have a clear idea of the next stage of the project. After the work party on the 17th of February (final clearance work) we will purchase 100 fence posts, 50 mtrs wire (100x100) 10 full strengthening posts and a gate for the entrance to the fishery. Also we are going to require some mechanical help to do the work so, most likely, we will hire a mini digger. Full costings will be available at the next members meeting on Monday February 12th.