Mullion Harbour Day POSTPONED

Unfortunately due to dangerous sea and weather conditions forecast for Saturday we have had to postpone this event until Saturday 14th July. We hope you are able to make this new date.

Scuba Divers Explore the Depths of Loe Pool
If you go down to the Pool today......don't worry, that shape in the water is not some unexpected monster of the deep, but a diver searching out for plants, rare or otherwise, growing in the waters of Loe Pool.

As part of a four year project funded by Natural England, the divers will be building on work carried out by the National Trust since 1999 to find out more about what plants are growing within Loe Pool.

Since the mid-seventies, the Pool has suffered from algal blooms, caused by too many nutirients entering the water from the sewage works in Helston and at Culdrose and from farms and settlements up the catchment. Recent work carried out at the Helston Sewage works have led to a dramatic reduction in some of these nutrients and we haven't seen an algal bloom here for over six years and the water quality and clarity is improving, allowing us to let divers get underwater to see what is growing there.The divers, from Kennack Diving School www.kennackdiving.co.uk have been working under the guidance of Dr Jan Dinsdale who has been surveying the water plants from a boat for the past 10 years.

Jan said “we’re not sure what we will find. The years and years of algal blooms have really taken their toll on the water plant life in Loe Pool and we haven’t been able to find many plants at all during our recent boat surveys.  But the good news is that things are improving. Getting down under the water to have a really close look  will give us vital information about the state of the natural vegetation on the bottom of the lake and what potential it has to flourish  as the water quality continues to improve. Over time we’d like to see plenty of plants growing up through the water from the bottom of the lake.  The return of these plants is a vital step in the recovery of the lake’s natural balance; they will help to make sure that the algal blooms are a thing of the past”

Reporters from Westcountry TV interview
David and Des from Kennack Diving

Early reports are that the divers have brought three types of plant to the surface and one old bottle - marked Sleeman and Co, Helston. They'll return again in September for a further survey.

Alastair

Nice day for a Bike ride.......

The weather seems to be on the turn for the better (for how long though ?) and this morning I bumped into Dave Page of Porthleven Cycle Hire, leading a guided cycle tour around Loe Pool at Penrose.


Porthleven Cycle Hire are a National Trust Ambassador Business, and we have been working closely with them for a couple of years looking at how we can help people on bikes enjoy Penrose more. PCH offer a great service for bike hire and guided cycle trips whether you live locally or are on holiday (they will deliver to your accomadation if you are on your hols). For more info check out their website at:


http://www.porthlevencyclehire.co.uk/


Watch this space for more news on cycling related work at Penrose this year. We are working with the 1SW Cycle Hub project, PCH and the Cornwall AONB partnership to improve cycling facilities and information, and with Sustrans to improve people's awareness of Penrose as an off-road (and green and pleasant ) alternative bike link for Helston and Porthleven.


We are also improving our signs around Penrose generally, so if you have any ideas about what might help you please get in contact


Mike


mike.hardy@nationaltrust.org.uk

Kayaking is back

Just when you through it was safe to go back in the water...you were right!

"Kayaking on the Helford" is back this year with a chance to paddle with expert tuition up to Frenchman's Creek and experience life on the water from a new perspective. We welcome all abilities and anyone over the age of 8 to come along with us. This year we are using sit on top kayaks, so paddling is even easier. For info contact us on: 01326 558424. 


Dates for this years events are: Sunday 10th June, Saturday 7th July, Saturday 11th August and Saturday 8th September. We are also running a series of outdoor activity events including surfing, coasteering and cliff climbing, see the poster below for info. 

Layla