Faggots

Since the weir was added to the lake some five to six years ago, the motion of the flowing water has been slowly eroding the banks causing them to wear down. The banks are now in need of restoration and a specialist team have been employed to do the job, which started on Monday.

The water level has been reduced and stakes driven into the bottom of the lake. A Terram liner membrane has be woven in amongst the stakes to which faggots have been placed inside, not the edible faggots but bundles of hazel, also known as faggots. Faggoting is an ancient technique and involves the use of bundles of hazel or willow bound together, commonly used in tidal estuaries where the usually heavy silt load ensures rapid deposition. The faggots, arranged to produce a mattress, will slow the flow of the water and trap silt and sediment building up the bank naturally, rather than the use of large engineered structures.

Forty tonnes of clay soil have been delivered and will be transported from the Wolfsen gate area to the weir, gradually added to behind the new bank. The project continues over the next few weeks, continued dry weather needed.