The hunt for the old moat

We have an Old Moat garden centre at reference 1 and there was talk of the old moat at reference 2. And last week, I thought it was time to find it. Started off by getting two more maps.

Ordnance Survey

Local authority map for the consultation

With the old moat marked as water, right in the middle of the Ordnance Survey map, below and to the right of the central blue 'P'. Marked as embankments, lower left on the local authority map. Above and to the left of the black oblong, lower middle, a sports pavilion now removed.

Opening fungus on Meadway

Scots pine, with Wellingtonia right and left

Parked the bicycle at the foot of what was probably Wellingtonia 15, the one noticed at reference 1, and snapped a couple of others. Not scored. Then headed off west into the undergrowth to see what I could find. 

First up, a few humps and bumps. Perhaps relics of relevant earthworks.

The old moat

Some old iron

Looking west, wet part of moat just visible centre

And soon enough, I found a bit of old moat with water. Probably lucky that I was visiting after some heavy rain. All very secluded, with lots of twittering from the trees and shrubs around. Some litter, but not very much at all. Lots of laurel and some bamboo, presumably relics of the shrubbery of the days when the moat was a decorative feature of the Manor House. A bit of old iron, the sort of thing that was commonly used in the parks of country houses in the late nineteenth century. A time when iron was cheap. With the third snap being looking west, over a dry part of the moat, towards the wet part.

Quite pleased with myself that I had managed to find the thing, just where the maps said it should be. Maybe the next step is to try and find traces of the fish pond, once on the other side of the Manor House.

Closing fungus, somewhere in the vicinity of the old moat

All this in the margins of batch 576. Another batch which held its second rise, so with 577 reported yesterday, two on the trot. Things are definitely looking up.

Reference 1: https://www.theoldmoatgardencentre.org.uk/. Run by the Richmond Fellowship.

Reference 2: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/08/wellingtonia-15.html.