launching dive boat

Falkland Islands Flag

On one of the coldest days of the year, the local diving club came along to get even colder! Lovely people, totally nuts! They generously came along to secure the floating buoys that guide the swimmers during the Ellesmere Triathlon. Flying from the dive boat is the flag of The Falklands.

THE STORY OF DEAD MAN'S ISLAND

Back in "days of yore" there was a man called Neddy Jebb, who had a strong horse and a large cart. One day, he was given a gruesome job.......to remove the old  bones from the local graveyard . This he did and he carried them on his cart to the edge of The Mere and tipped them in. The pile of bones made an island that was then named after him.

The above is actually based on a true story -  Neddy Jebb's Island (aka Dead Man's Island) has silted up over the years and partially re-atteached itself to the mainland, Today, it is being re-instated as an island with the help of the local angling club. Once the digging out has been completed and the muddy tracks grown over, it will be more of a haven for wildlife & will have 2 fishing pegs on the far side. Come on down and have a look.

DIKSMUIDE TWINNING

Ellesmere is today hosting some guests from our twin town of Diksmuide - welcome to you all.

HERONWATCH 2012 SEASON

The launch of this year's Heronwatch season is on 4th & 5th Feb 2012 at The Boathouse Visitor Centre at 11:00am.
 Do come along & see the herons start setting up the nests ready for their eggs, we have 4 cameras watching nests this year and we are hoping to expand if we can find sponsorship!
The herons are already starting to come back and  pick nests so there should be plenty of action on screen!

Characters of the Mere (4)

"J" hard at work

J started coming to help out at the Mere as part of his Duke of Edinburgh bronze award scheme...he enjoyed it so much that even though the DofE period has finished, he still turns up to help out. Well done & my grateful thanks for the effort you put in (& still keep smiling!)

Christmas Lunch

Christmas at The Boathouse

Just a brief message & photo  - this is where my loved ones & I had our Christmas get together - great food & great atmosphere (this was before we made the table a bit messier!)

2012

guess what this sculpture is called?

Well, it's 2012 and I've been remiss in not putting on any posts for AGES!! So sorry - my excuse is pressure of work & lack of computer access...I will try to do better in future.
 As for The Mere, things have been moving along, with all the new sculptures in place. Along with this one, we have The Conker and The Seed Pod, so do come along for a late winter trudge & see them. Also, work is being done on Neddy Jebbs island (also known as Dead Mans Island) to turn it back into a full island again, with the angling club having some fishing pegs out onto the mere.