Since the formation of the ‘Friends’ announced in September’s Chipperfield News, you may have seen non-official looking people with pads of paper and measuring tapes wandering around the Common appearing to have some purpose in mind. We do! We are the initial batch of Friends carrying out the surveys needed to assist Dacorum management of the Common.
One survey is of the Sweet Chestnut trees of which there are 8 veterans (over 300 years old). Also we are identifying and measuring all other tree species within a surrounding radius of up to 30 metres. An important measure is DBH; Diameter at Breast Height of the trees, not us!
Another current survey is of the Pill Pond west of the Windmill Pub. Almost all of the vegetation has been identified and the location plotted.  One concern here is the lack of water in recent years by comparison with, say, 30 years ago. This in turn may be one of the factors leading to so little wildlife these days. The annual pilgrimage of toads from the Pill Pond to deposit spawn elsewhere was wonderful to see and the timing as accurate as any calendar.
There’s a lot more to do and it is a very enjoyable pastime. We meet villagers we may not have met before and there is the satisfaction that we are helping to preserve Chipperfield Common which if, by neglect,  was allowed to decay   would be a sad loss for us all. Why not come and join us.