Belmont Boasts Bounteous Birds

 Environment, July/August 2024, Newsletter  Comments Off on Belmont Boasts Bounteous Birds
Jun 252024
 
Belmont Boasts Bounteous Birds

By Fred Bouchard Most of us try to cozy up to Mother Nature now that we’re increasingly climate-conscious, especially during longer days and presumably carefree hours of summer. Whether you’re in the garden, open spaces, or on woodsy walks, our home town offers a variety of eco-friendly locales to commune with Ma Nature’s little winged ambassadors. I offer four likely places, each hosting two not-obvious, strictly seasonal denizens that you might readily identify with your attentive ear and sharpened eye. We go from high altitude to low, and throw in an easily overlooked hotspot in nearby Cambridge. A good guide [READ MORE]

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Letters to the Editor July-August 2021

 Environment, Historic Preservation, July-August 2021, Newsletter, Open Space  Comments Off on Letters to the Editor July-August 2021
Jun 252021
 

To the Editor: As a 40-year resident in Belmont I take exception to the tone of the article in the latest issue of the Belmont Citizens Forum concerning the treatment of the shore of Clay Pit Pond (“Clay Pit Pond Deforestation Damages Wetland,” Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, May/June 2021), which attempts to blame the residents who perpetrated an “ecologically damaging assault” on the area. Rather, it seems to me, that these “miscreants” have called attention to the town’s lack of attention and mismanagement of one of our town’s greatest assets: an attractive body of water in the middle of our [READ MORE]

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Clay Pit Pond Deforestation Damages Wetland

 Environment, May-June 2021, Newsletter, Plants  Comments Off on Clay Pit Pond Deforestation Damages Wetland
May 042021
 
Clay Pit Pond Deforestation Damages Wetland

By Judy Singler In September 2020, several Belmont residents removed more than 80 trees and shrubs from the south side of Clay Pit Pond. In an unauthorized action taken ostensibly to “enhance” the view of the pond, individuals visited the site on at least three occasions that month, cutting down 50-foot-tall trees, shrubs, vines, and other vegetation. The remaining trees at the edge of the pond were pruned of side branches to a height of 20 feet and more. Town officials eventually ordered a halt to the illegal tree cutting after calls from several concerned citizens. Environmental Laws Exist to [READ MORE]

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Letter to the Editor: Clay Pit Pond

 Environment, January 2020, Newsletter, Open Space, Plants, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Letter to the Editor: Clay Pit Pond
Jan 062020
 
Letter to the Editor: Clay Pit Pond

To the Editor: As a neighbor, fan, and defender of poor Clay Pit Pond, I especially enjoyed the recent article (“Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset,” Belmont Citizens Forum Newsletter, November/December 2019). I would like to add a few more details on the recent history of the pond. When we moved to Belmont in the fall of 1974 there was a shopping cart in the pond by the inlet and advertisements about the upcoming Kiwanis Fishing Derby. I found the cart and derby in great contrast. Apparently the pond was regularly stocked for the event. No one noticed [READ MORE]

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Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset

 Environment, Historic Preservation, History, Newsletter, November 2019, Open Space, Stormwater, Water Quality  Comments Off on Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset
Nov 042019
 
Clay Pit Pond Progresses from Eyesore to Asset

By Michael Chesson Clay Pit Pond on Concord Avenue was once the site of Belmont’s largest industrial enterprise, a brickyard run by John H. and Robert A. Parry. The brothers bought 20¾ acres of land in 1888 on Concord Avenue and Underwood Street, with its valuable blue clay that turned an attractive reddish color when fired, and their yard produced 200,000 bricks a week. Just as the oil, steel, and railroad industries consolidated, the Parry brothers’ business in 1900 merged with the New England Brick Company, which owned three dozen other brickyards in the region. The firm installed new dryers, [READ MORE]

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