Herald - Issue 421

Page 4 • The HERALD • 31st March 2022 v SEND ALL YOUR LOCAL NEWS TO THE HERALD v P olar P lastics PVC-U SPECIALIST IN: l WINDOWS l DOORS l CONSERVATORIES l FASCIAS l CLADDING l GUTTERING l GLASS UNITS l WINDOW REPAIRS l FENCING & GATES www.polarplastics.co.uk Email:  sales@polarplastics.co.uk l Open 6 Days a Week l No Hard Sale Family Business l 10 Year Insurance Backed Guarantee Registered Company 10 HOLBURY PRECINCT, HOLBURY DROVE, HOLBURY TEL: (023) 8089 9611 REFURBISHERS ALWAYS TRY TO MEET YOUR BUDGET RELIABLE! EXCELLENT REFERENCES! INSURED! Catalogue of previous works to view Plaster work • Floor & Wall Tiling • Wall removal • Bathroom Design & Fit • Laminate/Wood Flooring • Painting • Insulation • Decking • PVCu Gutter & Fascia OUR HANDYMAN SERVICES • Rubbish clearance • Gutters • Jet washing conservatories, paths and patios • Flat pack assembly • Van removals • NO JOB TOO SMALL • FIXED PRICES • WRITTEN QUOTATIONS P Strus 07414 779083 Email: p.strus7@gmail.com ELECTRICIAN/HANDYMAN FULLY QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN (30YRS EXPERIENCE) • Mains Upgrades • Testing • Extra/Replacement Points/Lights • Outside Lighting • Sockets • Ponds • BT/TV Points • Ethernet Points • CCTV • Fire/Intruder Alarms • Basic Plumbing Repairs • Outside Taps • Showers • Heating Problems • Blinds/Poles Fixed • Flatpacks • Loft Work Boarding, Tidying etc ALL OTHER DOMESTIC WORK CONSIDERED Call Mick on 07738 166453 or email: michaelshelley80@googlemail.com Todd Beverley Carpentry Services Quality workmanship with over 20 years experience All Household Carpentry Undertaken including: • Kitchen/Bathroom/Bedroom fitting • Purpose Built Cupboards and Wardrobes • Internal/External Door Hanging • Solid/Laminate Flooring • Window Renovation • Decking For a friendly & reliable service you can trust call: Tel: 023 8086 0969 Mobile: 07941 021558 Send your local news to The Editor, The Herald, 2 High Street, Hythe SO45 6AH or email: editor@herald-publishing.co.uk The History of the Ashlett Saltmarshes by Robin Somes, Fawley & Blackfield Memories In 2005, researchers from the University of Southampton discovered the remains of Saxon- era fish traps on the mudflats near Ashlett. The traps themselves are fascinating, but the discovery also reveals some of the history of the saltmarshes forming a buffer between land and sea. Saltmarshes have always been a dynamic and uctuating habitat, dependent upon colonisation by plants, on tides, currents and sediment, erosion by waves, and sea level changes. e fascinating thing revealed by the Southampton researchers is how the marshes have expanded and contracted, for at least 2,000 years, probably much longer. e sh traps comprised a complex arrangement of oak posts driven into the mud, supporting wattle panels. On a falling tide, these would channel sh into a central compound from which they could not escape. e posts were radiocarbon-dated to the middle Saxon period, 660–899 A.D. e marshes then were decreasing; their seaward edge was eroding away, leaving an increasing area of mud and shingle exposed at low tide. ey had been retreating this way since their maximum extent around 200 A.D. e large area of intertidal mud allowed the construction of the traps, probably giving a good supply of fresh sh to local communities for decades, or longer. At some point in the Middle Ages, the marshes then began to expand again. Perhaps changing agriculture around the rivers Test and Itchen increased the amount of sediment in the water, allowing the marshes to build up towards the mouth of Southampton Water. In any case, their expansion covered up all traces of the sh traps, for maybe a thousand years. en, in the late 19th century, coinciding with increased dredging and shipping from Southampton, the marshes started retreating once more. eir seaward edge in 1870 was at least 300 yards further o shore than it is now. e sh traps began to be uncovered a er 1962 - perhaps the dredging of Fawley power station’s cooling water channel through Ower Lake in the 1960s accelerated the erosion. Sheer luck that their period uncovered coincided with the archaeologists’ visit to the area in 2005. 17 years a er their discovery, much evidence of the traps has already disappeared. A few more years and it will all be gone; the last physical evidence of a long-gone age. e saltmarsh itself, too, retreats more rapidly than before. One day maybe, that too will be a distant memory, and the cries of the curlews, oystercatchers and black-headed gulls will fall silent. Or just maybe, its fortunes will reverse again, and it will grow back towards its former extent; a cornucopia of biodiversity, alive with mud-borne invertebrates and shimmering, darting young sh. I do hope so. Ashlett marshes, with the Esso Fawley marine terminal (Photo by Robin Somes) Gift of Sight Hythe Wives will be meeting on Friday 1st April for a talk by Ailsa Walter about ‘Gi of Sight’. On Friday 15th April there will be no meeting as this is Easter Good Friday. en on Friday 6th May , for a talk by Alistair McNaught titled ‘Words, Walks and Wellbeing’. Meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Friday of the month from 2.15pm to 4.40pm in the Main Hall at St Andrew’s Centre, Dibden Purlieu. Visitors and new members are always welcome. For more information please contact Christine on: 07923 864985.