...i met a man who was looking at the (algae or) duckweed (if that's what it is) that seems to be killing the viaduct pond... usually much of the surface is covered with water lilies but this year there are only a few stumps of dead lilies... a reddish green plant covers the whole surface like a fitted carpet... and on the ground is a dead fish about 18 inches (say 50cm) long and about 5 inches (say 12cm) diameter - which he photographed with a digital camera...
...the man told me that he'd been walking on the heath for about 20 years and he'd never seen the pond looking like this... he thinks it is caused by the interlocking metal piles that the keepers have driven along the sides of this pond and some of the others... he thinks these metal sides prevent the pond life interacting with the life of the soil - and possibly he is right... (but it is difficult to know what is happening - i've noticed that the algae on other ponds can retreat in a few hours when the air temperature drops a few degrees - which makes me think the increase in recent years is because the summers are warmer now)...
...the man told me that this is his last walk on the heath before going to live in the country... i gave him the address of this diary so that he will have some indirect contact with heath walking... walking on public footpaths on agricultural land could be less free than walking in a city forest!...
the sky is cloudless in all directions... the city lights are on and the wind is still westerly and feels quite fresh...
...i am invigorated by this walk and now i return to life lived largely indoors...
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