HarbourWater Quality Concerns

Chemicals discovered in Chichester and Langstone harbour water researchers testing water quality in and around the harbours say a worrying number of chemicals have been identified, including prescribed and illegal drugs. an ongoing study looking at water quality in and around chichester and langstone harbours has revealed high levels of potentially harmful chemicals. in a novel collaboration between local interest groups and portsmouth and Brunel universities, hundreds of samples were gathered by the clean harbours partnership (chp) campaign group last year as part of project spotlight. university of portsmouth and Brunel university london researchers analysed 288 samples and have so far detected more than 50 compounds across 22 sites. professor alex ford from the university of portsmouth’s institute for marine sciences © university of portsmouth said,

“this project is enabling us to determine what chemical contaminants are in our marine life and coastal waters.

“we have found a large variety of prescribed and illegal drugs plus a variety of pesticides in coastal waters and marine organisms, such as crabs and oysters.

“this is important, because we know that aquatic ecosystems are under threat from pharmaceuticals and farming practices such as biocides and fertilisers.” professor ford’s previous research revealed tiny quantities of antidepressants in water can affect wildlife, such as

Shell we leave a message?

would you like to leave a message for future generations? if so, take a visit to the shell house in staunton country park, where hundreds of local residents have now drawn or written on shells.these are fixed to boards and placed inside the building, which was constructed in 1828 for sir george staunton on what was called the leigh park estate the shell house was originally covered in decorative panels of flint. inside, the walls were encrusted with shells.although sir george travelled widely, the shells came from the beach at hayling island.the building was used to house a natural history collection including minerals, ceramics and a small stuffed crocodile in the 20th century the grade-two listed folly suffered from vandalism the shellwork was lost and the roof collapsed happily,in the last few years it has been possible to restore the building with portland stone together with flint and pebbles to match the originals the friends of staunton country park have arranged opportunities for members of the public to leave personal messages on shells one of the collections of shells was for the late Queen’s Jubilee in 2022 and another one will be for king charles’ coronation.the next dates for leaving your messages are announced on the facebook page of the friends of staunton country park. crustaceans and molluscs. levels above 500cfu/100ml signify a risk to human health. scientists will now compare the concentrations of these pollutants, found during last year's drought, to those taken at the same sewage discharge locations after combined sewer overflow (csos) discharges had been activated by rainfall.

“chemical pollution from csos is becoming a real cause for concern due to the number of chemicals that are being found all over the environment and not just waters is

“We have found a large variety of prescribed and illegal drugs plus a variety of pesticides in coastal waters and marine organisms, such as crabs and oysters ” in the uk,” explained dr tom miller from Brunel university

“it is important that the public are becoming more aware of the problem, and it has been a really great opportunity to work with locals in the area and address some of their concerns surrounding the issue” project spotlight was funded by concerned local residents, groups of waterusers and organisations through the clean harbours partnership

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Barley like a lot of things that happen by chance, the use of cereals to make beer possibly happened way back in the very murky depths of history when some lucky but untidy troglodyte left his beaker of porridge around for a few days and then noticed it was bubbling. leaving nothing to waste, he stopped doing the washing up and after inventing the yardarm and making sure the sun was well below it, drank this slop, only to find that it had a rather interesting and pleasing effect on his primitive head. Beer was born! since then of course, the cereals he had back then to make his bevvy, have been bred (no pun intended) and improved, so we now have specific types of Barley for both the maltster and the Brewer to work their magic what’s a maltster i hear you ask? later on in our soggy journey, we will look a little deeper into yeast but here we should just be aware that it needs sugar to work its tipsy magic and that’s where the maltster comes in. he takes the grain and lets it grow a bit and then dries it before passing it on to the Brewer what’s happened here is a wonder of nature www.bowmans.com to be continued…

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Discover the people’s mosquito is a registered charity rebuilding a de havilland mosquito with the aim to be ready for flight in 2027 known affectionately as ‘the wooden wonder’ because of its radical plywood construction, over 7,700 mosquito aircraft were built and it achieved huge operational success. although often overshadowed by the spitfire, hurricane and lancaster, not a single example flies in Britain or europe today. you can help put that right by joining thousands of other people across the country by paying the‘cost of a pint’ each and every month

Discover more on the project and how you can help fundraising with a small monthly donation, by visiting their website: www.peoplesmosquito.org.uk sign-up for the weekly newsletter to keep updated with news from the build factory in east sussex.

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