This Page will be devoted to news and other items specifically relating to the Bradbourne Lakes Park.
I am delighted to announce that Egham Swan Sanctuary have kindly passed on to us eight cygnets that they have had in their care, for re-homing. They are probably around 9 months old, and although almost fully-grown still have some of their brown feathers.
We shall need to feed them 2-3 times a day, and arrangements are in hand to set up a rota of volunteers for this. However, I am sure that our new residents will not complain if anyone else wishes to also feed them - I have been advised that any sort of ordinary bread (but NOT cake or other sweet/sugary items) is acceptable, and they also like a little lettuce too. If they are being fed in the lake, please ensure that any bread is left in fairly sizeable slices, as otherwise if it is too small it will not float.
Click here to see some photographs...
18th February 2004
Members may recall from the AGM in June that we were trying to secure for the area one of the stone monoliths sited in the grounds of Bradbourne Hall during the 1860s, and currently located in the grounds of a property on the west side of Robyns Way.
Following negotiations with all involved parties, the owners of this monolith have most generously donated it and the four surrounding stones to the Residents' Association, and Sevenoaks District Council have agreed that it may be placed in the Bradbourne Lakes Park.
I am now delighted to advise members that, earlier today (27th August 2003), it was transported to its new location and it now stands in the southern park adjacent to the Betenson Avenue entrance.
For those of you who delight in "facts and figures" it stands approximately 17 feet high, is roughly 2 feet by 3 feet at the base, and weighs around 8 tons. It is of solid granite, and came from a quarry in Cornwall.
A big thank you to all who assisted on the day (including Creechwood - the company who so efficiently transported the stones and craned them into precise location) - their names will appear "in print" in the next Newsletter.
Click here to view the photographs...
27th August 2003
It must be at least four or five years since we last had any goslings in the park - and they were the "common" white ones. I seem to recall that two survived to adulthood, and they now are two of the remaining four white and four Graylag geese still with us in the southern park. It cannot have been that many years ago when we had perhaps twelve or fourteen?
Anyhow, now for the good news! Towards the end of May four goslings were hatched, and for us an all-time "first" as the parents were Canada geese.
Click to view full-size picture...
May 2003
How about the extraordinary relationship between "Mother Goose" and her adopted family of ducklings. She has cared for them assiduously since before Easter, being extremely vocal and aggressive to anyone approaching too close to her charges. According to a lady who regularly walks the lakes, it is the third or fourth year she has done this and often hers is the only brood to survive to adulthood.
Article courtesy of Margaret Nicholas
Click to view full-size picture...
May 2003
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Spotted in mid-March [2003] in the southern Bradbourne Park lake were two Egyptian geese. They departed after a few weeks but have recently returned (December 2003).
They were also in residence for a time in the Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve.
They seemed to be husband and wife!
April 2003
We used to have a family of swans resident in the Park. You may have noticed their absence during the last year or so. The RSPCA had to be called in February last year as one of the swans was seen to have a fishing hook stuck in its beak. They managed to catch it and took it to a local vet. Unfortunately it was beyond help and had to be put to sleep. Its mate disappeared a week or so later, and the remaining cygnet, after a brief stay on the northern park lake, then left for pastures new. This tragedy only served to highlight the subject of anglers using our lakes for unauthorised fishing, this becoming an increasing problem with several people and their dogs having been entangled in discarded fishing lines. Following continued pressure from the Committee, the District Council finally reviewed the Park Bylaws during the spring of 2002, with "No Fishing" notices now posted at strategic points around the parks. It is particularly upsetting that some of our special wildlife should have been killed due to the thoughtless actions of a few.
March 2002
