Lura Phillips and Gunilla, 1993
LETTER FROM
GUNILLA CAULFIELD
June 26, 2014
To the
editor:
Regarding the future of Millbrook
meadow and pond, we will shortly receive the final report from our contractors,
Milone & MacBroom, a great step ahead in the restoration of the meadow and
ponds. We have already learned some of the findings. My own thoughts on some of
the most crucial issues in the meadow:
Mill
Pond: The pond has silted up, and the invasive plants (phragmites,
purple loosestrife and others) have spread out and overtaken a large section of
the pond. Having seen a picture of the pond from the fifties, I can imagine what
is to come.
Cattails and other invasive plants are filling
up our Pond.
The silting then had
caused the pond to be so shallow that you could walk across the mud to the
other side. It is happening again, and if not stopped, we are in danger of
having the pond turn into a (possibly malodorous) marsh, with the brook finding
its way through it. The pond must be dredged, and the invasive plants
curtailed.
Frog
Pond: This little pond needs cleaning out, and, as with Mill Pond,
the plants adjusted to allow the proper flow of the brook as well as an open
area for ducks, etc.
Hardly room for ducks in our clogged Frog
Pond!
The
Meadow: The drains under the meadow must be rebuilt in order to take
care of drainage from parking lot, Mill Lane, etc. Water-tolerant trees need to
replace dead or lost ones.
The
Mill Brook: Milone and MacBroom has done studies and taken flow measurements
of the brook. They will advise on the best shape, depth, and width of the brook
to accommodate the water flow. The brook may remain straight, be slightly
curved, or deepened to accommodate larger water flow. The culvert under Beach
Street has to be structured to allow unobstructed flow in and out of the
meadow.
This old willow, planted about 1912, is dying
from inside out. (1980 photo)
The
Willows: Oh, the beloved willows. The memories. Sitting underneath for a
chat with Lura. Story hour with our children.
Now, the
willows must be pensioned. The great willow was a grand, mature tree in 1950,
and is now past even simple decline. The core of the trunk is full of sawdust,
the great branches are dead and falling. Let’s not wait for a calamity that
causes injury to children playing underneath, or damage to the Settlers Bridge
or a neighboring yard if the tree falls. If we simply cut all the large, dead
branches, the tree will be completely unbalanced, and even more likely to come
crashing down.
Instead, there should be a
celebration of these beloved old giants, and then a planting of new willows to
take their place. Not saplings, but young trees of perhaps 10 or 12 feet.
Willows grow at a rate of
five feet a year, and we would soon be sitting in their shade again. Arbor Day
may be a nice day for planting the new trees.
GUNILLA
CAULFIELD
Rockport
[Note: Gunilla
Caulfield has been the Trustee of the Lura Hall Phillips
Trust for the Meadow since 1994, when Lura died.]
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