including Beech Bottom Dyke and Sandridge Road Wastes
Your opinion counts, so please join us. £10 per year will help to protect, preserve and enhance the Heath for all.
Membership provides you with:
Find out more at Joining FoBH
Our team have been hard at work on the Harpenden Road/Townsend Drive side of the heath. Laurels have been cleared, creating more light into the undergrowth. A giant lump of flint was obstructing one of the paths. The team put in a mighty effort and managed to dig it up.
In the process, interesting fun-guys uncovered some interesting Fungi. The orange coloured fungi may be a rare fungus called Sarcoscypha austriaca or it could be a more common fungus called Aleuria aurantia common name is Orange peel fungus.
Members are invited to join us for our AGM on Saturday 7th March 2026 10.30am at The Jolly Sailor Pub, Stonecross, AL1 4AA.
Non-members are welcome to contribute, but will not be entitled to vote.
Please join to share your voice and hear news of the upcoming Local Government Reorganisation.
The British Isles are host to many hundreds of wild, foreign plants, ‘invasive aliens’, introduced mostly by human action. The more aggressive are termed ‘High-impact Aliens’. Examples are Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam, Giant Hogweed, Pygmyweed, Rhododendron and Laurel.
Bernards Heath proper has had two (connected) occurrences of Japanese Knotweed in the 21st century, the last in 2016. The Friends dealt with it on the second occasion, and we wait to see if success was absolute.
Rhododendron, a native of Turkey and S-W Spain and Laurel, from S-E Europe, are similar in that (in this country) they eventually monopolise the under-storey of woodland to the exclusion of all other flora and thus all animal and bird life. The woodland floor becomes a sterile monoculture.
Since the end of brick-making on the Heath at the beginning of the 20th century, Nature has reclaimed most of that ‘brownfield’ land and it is now classified as Secondary Woodland i.e. not Ancient Woodland. Fortunately, native tree species have made good claim to the available space and aliens are not dominating so far, although it could be argued that sycamore is less than welcome as it is not a true native.
We are thankful that Rhododendron is not in evidence on the Heath and that Laurel, while present, is in what we judge to be manageable amounts. The one, notable occurrence of Laurel on the E side of Harpenden Road, against the S end of the fire station site, has been successfully eliminated within recent times.
Laurel is thus to be found principally on the W side of Harpenden Road and we have commenced a campaign to deal with it. The procedure with the larger thickets will be to cut down to ground level and then monitor in successive years, lopping-off re-growth as it appears. This procedure worked well by the fire station and the stumps gave up re-growth surprisingly readily. Grubbing-out would be difficult amongst tree roots.
Smaller bushes can be ‘weeded’ out and then monitored for any re-growth. Self-set new growth, originating with seed from outside BH will have to be continually watched-out for, but is easily removed when very young.
We are not able to engage in Laurel control during the Nesting Close Season, from the beginning of March to the end of August.
Tucked away in the middle of Bernards Heath is the Pioneer club, a youth and community charity offering a safe haven for skate, music, dance and the arts. As well as housing the UK’s oldest indoor skatepark, the Club is an iconic music venue for legends past and future.
The team are hosting events for ages 0 up, and offer venue hire too for bingo nights, birthday parties and more. The new cafe offers a warm space for guardians wanting to grab a hot cuppa and clear the inbox while waiting for skate lessons to end.
Find out more about the PJ parties, Indie nights and Xmas Specials taking place in your community before Christmas : https://www.pioneerclub.co.uk/pioneer-events
Many thanks to all volunteers who turned out on Saturday to help spruce up Bernards Heath, Beech Bottom Dyke, and the Sandridge Road Wastes. On a bright sunny morning, there were plenty of litter pickers out keeping our community clean.
The FoBH team also conducted maintenance on the Sandridge Road Wastes. They were clearing the ‘whips’ ( small secondary shoots) from the base of trees. This helps to keep the trees healthy and the Wastes looking good.
Another activity conducted by the FoBH volunteers with the support of our members. Find out more about our activities here: https://bernardsheath.org/?page_id=585
In the early morning of Friday 17th October a large tree fell across Harpenden road, between the Old Harvester and the Pioneer club. The council cleared the tree quickly, but our FoBH chair took the below photos for us.
This is a timely reminder that the heatwaves and lack of rain this year has put trees under stress. Please be aware of this as you enjoy the heath this autumn.
Regular users of the lower field will have noticed that the bog in the south eastern corner continued to grow this summer despite months of record low rainfall. FoBH took it upon themselves to conduct a water test in an attempt to identify the source of the water.
The results have been reassuring. The water is remarkably clean, with good ratings for inland water. This rules out the feared possibility of a burst waste pipe. Affinity were contacted regarding water pipe leaks in the area, but maintained there are none. Another mystery then, what is the source of this water if rainfall and burst pipes can be ruled out?
FoBH member, Mandy, found a map from 1965 which shows an old well in that corner of the heath. This implies the source is a natural spring. Can anyone else assist with this mystery, please?
A great example of how your membership looks after our green spaces.
The WWII water tank near the old fire station was vandalised over the summer. Sadly, two fine oaks in a heath clearing nearby were also graffitied with lightening bolts over the summer.
Both of these have now been cleaned by FoBH volunteers. Huge thanks to our local members looking out for their local space. As you can see from the pictures below, the work took extensive scrubbing!
FoBH members report a large branch has fallen across National Cycle Route 6 – the path running between the school sports grounds and Harpenden road (pictured top).
There was also a branch across one of the paths near the old WWII water tank. The FoBH chair managed to shift it! (Pictured below.)
Please be alert for any other fallen trees or branches and do let us know so we can report them. chairman @ bernardsheath.org
Friends of Bernards Heath (FoBH) urge you to act today to protect our local representation.
In 2028, under central Government reforms, St Albans District Council (SADC) will cease to exist.
Bernards Heath – your local green space – could be managed by people many miles away, with no knowledge of the area.
Central St Albans doesn’t currently have local representation in the form of a parish council and soon we will lose our councillors.This means:
– no-one to speak up for local residents and businesses.
– nobody based locally to look after our parks, community spaces and markets.
The FoBH believe that establishing a Parish Council for central St Albans is the best way to keep our local voice and to protect our Heath.
We urge you to get involved with the consultation scheme which runs until Monday 6th October.
What can you do?
We risk losing the chance to have any future influence on our community.
To support a parish council for central St Albans, email CGR@stalbans.gov.uk
Include your name and address (your details will be kept confidential).
The wording can be short and simple –“ I/We support the creation of a parish council for central St Albans to ensure that the city has local representation.”
Further information is available at: www.stalbans.gov.uk/local-government-reorganisation
Q1. We’re already in the parish of St Peter’s. Why would we need anything else?
A1. Strangely, parish councils have nothing to do with churches. The word ‘parish’ has two meanings. The non-ecclesiastical version just refers to the smallest or lowest level of local government.
Q2. Why doesn’t central St Albans have this ‘smallest or lowest’ level of local government, given everywhere else in the district (Harpenden, Sandridge, London Colney etc) does.
A2. Because St Albans City and District Council (SADC) was allowed to direct-govern the centre through the City Neighbourhoods Committee. This will disappear when SADC and our local councillors go, leaving a gap.
Q3. Hertfordshire councils are merging. Won’t the city of St Albans be the new HQ for the unitary authority governing its area?
A3. Very unlikely. Land is expensive and space and roads tight. That’s why we need a local body to speak up for us.
Q4. Why a parish council and not a town or city council?
A4. Parish council is a general term for the smallest or lowest level of local government. Our ‘parish council’ would no doubt be called a town or city council. Harpenden Town Council is a parish council.
Q5. The process for creating a parish council (town council/city council) is a Community Governance Review (CGR). A consultation on this is running till 6 October. There’s a later consultation stage with more detail. Can I just ignore this first stage?
A5. Not if you want there to be a second stage. We understand that SADC needs a show of interest to move things forward effectively.
The deadline for CGR consultation responses is Monday 6 October. If you have a view on whether we should be progressing to the next stage on creating a parish council (aka town council/city council) for central St Albans please send your consultation response to CGR@stalbans.gov.uk.