Wish Stream

In 1800, the land through which the Wish Stream ran was part of the estate of William Pitt, but an agreement was reached in 1801 that the government would buy 450 acres (180 ha) on which to build a college for the training of military personnel. The decision was ratified by Royal Warrant in 1802, and included a Manor House, a farm and a water mill.^[13] The site was almost sold again in 1807, due to lack of progress, but work started in 1808, with the construction of a bridge over the outlet of the mill pond, the erection of fencing around the edge of the grounds, and the planting of trees on the slopes below the south-eastern edge of the mill pond.^[14] The main building for the college was built just above the mill pond, which was then enlarged to become the Lower Lake, with the sand and gravel removed from the pond being used to hide the lower floor of the College building.^[15]

Prior to the excavation of the Bathing Lake, the area where it now is was a swamp, from which the Wish Stream emerged.^[16] Work began on creating it in 1814, and it was completed in 1818. The project was not without its difficulties, as the Royal Staff Corps who were carrying out the work asked for protection from the cadets at the Academy, who were using the wheeling planks as rafts on the unfinished Lake. The planks had to be retrieved from the lake when needed, to allow the work to proceed, and they asked that a sergeant be posted to prevent the cadets from interfering with the work. Work on the enlargement of the Lower Lake appears to have been in progress at the same time, certainly in 1818.^[17]

The Wish Stream was diverted around the East Buildings, now known as Victory College, and a series of ponds and weirs were created. In order to improve the fishing, the ponds were lined with chalk and gravel, to reduce the acidity of the water, but by 1982 this had been covered by a thick layer of sludge and rotting leaves, raising the acidity again.^[7] The ponds on the north side of the Victory College are known as the Upper and Lower Churchill Pools, after the Whinston Churchill memorial hall which overlooks them. On the west side, the ponds were known as the Princes Pool, the Upper and Lower Rose Pools and the Bridge Pool.^[18] However, in 1979 the Lower Rose Pool was renamed Plum's Pool, in honour of a member of staff known as 'Plum' Warner on his retirement, acknowledging all the work he had done to create a thriving Trout Fishing Club within the Academy from very small beginnings.^[19]

There are a number of listed buildings along the course of the Wish Stream within the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. They include Government House, which has a main section with three storeys, and a side wing with two storeys. It was built in the late 18th century in mid-Georgian style, and was the manor house at the time the estate was bought for the academy. It was altered in the early 19th century, to become the house for the commanding officer, and is grade II listed.^[20] Nearby is the Old College, built between 1807 and 1812 in the Greek Revival style by John Sanders, the architect for the Barrack Department. At the front it has a long symmetrical design, with two storeys and an attic, while to the rear there are three trident-shaped accommodation wings, dating from 1862, and a canteen, dating from around 1910. It is grade II* listed, and the listing includes a number of cast iron lamps attached to the corners.^[21] To the north-east of this is the grade II listed New Building, built between 1911 and 1918 to the design of H B Measures, who was the Director of Barrack Construction. It consists of a central officer's mess and canteen, with H-shaped blocks at both sides to accommodate the cadets. Passages link the three parts together, and it is built in the Edwardian Baroque style.^[22]

The upper Wish Stream is part of the Broadmoor to Bagshot Heaths and Woods Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The site provides habitat for Dartford warbler, nightjar and woodlark, for which it is internationally important, as well as dragonfly and damselfly populations. Wishmoor Bottom, together with the similar Broadmoor Bottom, are the most important examples of valley bog habitat in the area. Nine species of sphagnum moss grow in Wishmoor Bottom, of which two are particularly notable, and it is also noted for the presence of hare's-tail cotton-grass, crested buckler-fern and marsh fern.^[23] Natural England is working with Defence Estates and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst conservation group to improve the heathland, from "unfavourable recovering" to "favourable" status. This has involved the felling of large numbers of trees, to allow the heath vegetation to regenerate, and surveys of nesting birds indicate that the three species mentioned has increased significantly since the project began.^[24] The Upper Lake is a breeding ground for toads, which arrive in their thousands in mid-February or March. The resultant juvenile toads move from the lake to the surrounding grass in June, and then when they are about the size of a little finger nail, they leave the lake and migrate to the woods. They have been known to cover up to 0.5 miles (0.8 km) in a week.^[25]

The water that flows down from Wishmoor Cross is generally clear, although tinged with a copper colour from the surrounding peat. It is quite acidic, which limits the growth of weed and insects, and is therefore not at all suitable for trout, which need both of these to thrive. Nevertheless, it has a good population of brown trout and rainbow trout. The Bathing Lake holds good numbers of wild brown trout, which use the gravel beds of the Wish Stream to spawn. The presence of peat in the water causes them to develop a deep golden colouring. The first known introduction of the genus into the river was in 1925, when 200 fish were obtained from the Berkshire Trout Farm at Hungerford.^[7] In 1963, the water in the Bathing Lake was tested for acidity, and lime was added to reduce it. Lime was added from time to time throughout the season to maintain the pH at neutral. It became obvious at that time that some rainbow trout were surviving through the winter, which was unexpected.^[26] By 1977 it was also evident that the brown trout were breeding successfully, due to the presence of smaller fish than those that were used to stock the river. The rainbow trout grow faster than brown trout, but are unlikely to breed in English waters.^[27]

When the Wish Stream was diverted around the East Buildings, the new ponds were made of concrete, but were lined with chalk and gravel to manage the acidity. By 1982, a thick layer of sludge and rotting leaves had formed over the bed, and consideration was given as to how to remove this. Brown trout and rainbow trout are introduced into the river most years. In 1982, some 2,500 fish were added to the water, of which around 2,000 were caught and eaten.^[7] Prolonged heavy rain in the summer of 1985 resulted in the acidity rising, and a number of trout died. The lakes also support populations of coarse fish, and from time to time these are removed using nets and stunning equipment.^[28] Coarse fish include roach and perch, and in the 1960s around 20,000 per year were being removed.^[29]

As part of their responsibility under the Water Framework Directive, the Environment Agency assessed the ecological status of the Wish Stream in 2009 and 2010, and the barriers to migration of fish. Upstream of the Bathing Lake, they found a good population of wild brown trout, but none below the Lower Lake, because the habitat was degraded, and the weirs form major barriers to fish movement. They recommended some low cost improvements, which were carried out, including coppicing of trees, to allow more light to reach the stream, clearance of rhododendrons growing along the bank, and the introduction of woody debris into the channel to improve habitat.^[30]

The Wild Trout Trust undertook a further survey in 2012, particularly of the stretch within the grounds of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. They found that the section above the Bathing Pool was largely unmanaged, with woody debris providing cover for the trout, and gravels suitable for spawning. However, there was one section where the river ran through a concrete pipe, which forms part of the cadet obstacle course, where the water was fast-running but very shallow. Fish that were washed downstream into the Bathing Pool were unlikely to be able to negotiate this to return to the upper reaches. The sequence of pools around the East Buildings suffered from a lack of cover, little marginal vegetation, and were heavily silted. The connections between the pools were shallow concrete channels, again making migration by fish difficult.^[31] The outflow from the Lower Lake is a large stepped weir structure, with the water then running through a shallow concrete culvert, both of which are impassable to fish. The high weirs below the lake slow the passage of water, causing silt to smother the bed of the stream.^[32] The culverts below the retail park and the roundabout were not thought to be an obstale to fish, as they normally contain a good depth of water.^[33]

Recommendations to improve the stream as habitat for wild trout included alteration to the concrete pipe on the upper reaches, alteration to the margins of the pools between the two lakes, possibly including floating islands, and alteration of the weirs and overflow structure of the Lower Lake. It was recognised that without the weirs being altered, there was little point in modifying the overflow structure, and that while the previous recommendations could be carried out at little cost, the final section would probably need external funding, as it would require heavy machinery to carry out the work.^[34]