ABOUT TIDDENFOOT WATERSIDE PARK
Who Are we?
The Friends of Tiddenfoot Waterside Park group was formed in 2011 from park users and based on the membership of the former group. The Friends group meets every couple of months to act as a forum for dialogue between the owners, managers and park users.
Tiddenfoot Waterside Park is owned by Central Bedfordshire Council and managed on a day-to-day basis by the Greensand Trust - both organisations have ex-officio members in the group.
The group's aims are to work as a non-profit, community volunteer group, formed to advance the sympathetic development of the Park for community use. Our focus is on maintaining, improving and creating wildlife habitats within it, increasing awareness of conservation issues and enhancing community cohesion through involvement and understanding of local wildlife, conservation and heritage projects.
We would love to hear from anyone who is interested in joining the group and supporting our efforts, so please get in touch via the contact form on this website.
If you are an existing member of the group, please access the Members page to see meeting minutes and other information.
FRIENDS OF TIDDENFOOT
The Friends of Tiddenfoot Waterside Park is administered by a Committee made up as follows:
OFFICERS
Member
Tony Birch
Julian Brown
Isabel Fulcher
Maggie Moran
David and Judith Rosie
Mary and Edmund Flach
Salli Baldwin
Ann May ( Librarian)
Anne Guess (Assistant Treasurer )
Dave Ayers
John Lewis
Bill Ironside
Trevor Pollard
Suzanne Winder
Dave and Lesley Hazzard
Linda Hartley
Carole Gurling
Steve Oxtoby
Penny Tregillus
Wild Life Information
BATS & BIRDS
Thanks to the generosity of a number of supporters, we have been able to install new bat boxes and bird boxes at several locations around the park, to replace older ones that had degraded. We hope they will quickly attract new occupants.
We have a small number of bird and bat boxes still available at £7.50 each. Please get in touch via our contact form if you would like to donate one for the park, or purchase one for your own garden.
There is a wide range of wildlife at Tiddenfoot; Muntjac deer, badger, fox, rabbit, mink and smaller mammals including bats have all been seen here.
At the smaller end of the scale, a number of insect species thrive along the shores and on the water itself. Recent sightings have included varieties of dragonfly, iridescent blue or red damselflies and orange and brown Skipper butterflies.
The eight-acre (3.2 hectare) lake is important for water birds such as tufted duck, mute swan, great crested grebe, coot and moorhen, as well as for amphibians and invertebrates. A mandarin duck (drake) has recently taken up residence. The stand of flooded willow carr (scrubland) in the northwest corner provides an ideal area for nesting waterfowl.
The trees, shrubs and hedgerows provide food, shelter and nesting sites for many birds. Blue Tits, Blackcap and both Willow and Garden Warblers may be seen and heard here.
Conservation volunteers assist with work to encourage wildlife by creating and maintaining a wide range of habitats in the park. Regular mowing stops bushes and trees turning open sunny grassland into woodland, and improves conditions for wildflowers.
Two small wooded areas are signposted as being wildlife conservation areas where entry is not permitted.
Galleries
Useful Information
Bombus terrestris
Bombus lucorum
Bombus pratorum
Bombus hortorum
Bombus lapidarius
Bombus pascuorum
FISHING INFORMATION
The lake at Tiddenfoot is well known for its stock of Wels Catfish. In 1880, the Duke of Bedford, using fish obtained from the River Danube, was the first to succeed in stocking the species in Britain when he introduced them to his lake at Woburn Abbey. The Duke’s fish remained undisturbed at Woburn until about 1951 when a decision was made to remove the population. Leighton Buzzard Angling Club assisted with the removal of the fish and were given permission to stock some of the smaller caught fish into Claydon Lakes in Buckinghamshire. During the 1960s anglers began to move some of the smaller catfish from Claydon into surrounding lakes, including Tiddenfoot Waterside Park. The catfish, which can reach well over 2 metres in length, attract anglers from all over the country.
The lake also has good numbers of carp, tench, rudd and bream.
Fishing on the lake requires a permit from the Leighton Buzzard Angling Club.
You can see pictures of some of these fish in our Fishing Gallery.
THE “FORAGERS’ WAY” PROJECT
Every season brings changes at Tiddenfoot. Regular users see a flurry of extra visitors harvesting the cherry plums, sloes and crab apples along the hedgerows.
Foraging is for all ages. Senior citizens who are already harvesters in autumn are also welcome at other times – there will be more varieties to pick! And the greater range is an opportunity to encourage children to learn about the fruit – and pick it! We also want to create a brand-new hedge to hide the harsh metal fencing installed between the paddock and Cedars Upper School.
There has been a hedgerow along Mentmore Road (or Ledburn Lane, as it used to be known) for around 500 years. The growth we see today is much less ancient, of course, but has been neglected over recent years. We are revitalising it by laying it to create a tidier natural boundary, and aim to plant additional fruit trees to increase the harvest.
The regeneration of the Foragers’ Way and the new hedge will have a wider environmental value. Enhanced blossom in spring benefits bumblebees and provides nectar for butterflies and moths. The autumn bounty of fruit provides extra food for the birds and mammals that inhabit our countryside.
Much time and effort will be needed to complete the project. We rely on volunteer work parties, in addition to the knowledge and skills of the experts in our team and beyond to achieve our long-term goals. If you'd like to help us, do get in touch via our contact form!
PLANTING THE NEXT GENERATION
We're working to make sure the park's vegetation continues to thrive. That means controlling the growth of existing greenery and introducing carefully-selected new growth. Recent volunteer work parties have planted "whips" (saplings) in strategic positions to achieve a good balance of new trees and hedges. Pictured here are (right) the first new black poplar tree being planted in November 2013 to replace a fallen example near the green footbridge, and (below) some 300 whips being planted in January-February 2014 to form a new hedge to disguise the unsightly steel palisade fence boundary with Cedars Upper School.We're working to make sure the park's vegetation continues to thrive. That means controlling the growth of existing greenery and introducing carefully-selected new growth. Recent volunteer work parties have planted "whips" (saplings) in strategic positions to achieve a good balance of new trees and hedges. Pictured here are (right) the first new black poplar tree being planted in November 2013 to replace a fallen example near the green footbridge, and (below) some 300 whips being planted in January-February 2014 to form a new hedge to disguise the unsightly steel palisade fence boundary with Cedars Upper School.
GET IN TOUCH TODAY
URGENT CONTACTS
INJURED WILDLIFE
If you see wildlife injured or in distress, please call the Greensand Trust Ranger Service:
01525 237760
POLLUTION
Please report any instances of water pollution or high numbers of dead fish to Leighton Buzzard Angling Club:
01525 634826
NON-URGENT CONTACTS
BEDFORDSHIRE COUNCIL
Central Bedfordshire Council who own the site can be found and contacted on the website here (www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk) or on the number below:
0300 300 8305
GREENSAND TRUST
01525 237760
KEEP UP TO DATE
If you'd like to get involved with the Friends of Tiddenfoot Waterside Park - why not come along to one of our meetings or help out on one of our conservation action days? Or you can sign up for regular email updates of news about the park.
Just drop us a line - about joining in, or anything else to do with the park - using the form on the website or by emailing us at contact@tiddenfoot.org.uk . If you prefer the phone, you can call Gary Peach of the Greensand Trust on: