‘Triumph Over Adversity‘
In August 2022, after several weeks of very little rain and record high temperaures, the water level in the Abbey Fields Lake was critical, and the carp were dying due to lack of oxygen. Disappointingly, the Environment Agency, Severn Trent and Warwick District Council weren’t helpful following a site visit on the Thursday 11th, saying “Nothing Could Be Done“.
So it looked like the fish would perish, but the Kenilworth Community had other ideas. A group of volunteers, lead by Callum Thorpe, Darren Rees, Mark Copsey and Cliff Owens, later known as the ‘Lake Lads’, got together and hatched a plan to rescue the fish. They set up camp (around the clock) for several days on the footpath just along from the swimming pool. Donations of water pumps, fountains, generators, fuel, food and drink came flooding in.
A fund was immediately set up by Kenilworth Pet & Garden Supplies, with a donation from them of £500. A total of around £2000 was raised initially to purchase a tanker of fresh water. A supplier was found and a tanker of 19,000 litres arrived on 14th August, and the fish responded immediately. However, it became apparent that purchasing further tankers would be too costly.
BBC Midlands Today became aware of the story (as did BBC CWR Radio) and sent a camera crew down to the lake to record the events that were unfolding. Their report appeared on the evening of Monday 15th, which gave the story much needed publicity, and would have widened the cause of the ‘Lake Lads’. Several interviews took place, including one with WDC councillor Richard Hales, who became pivotal in the support of the eventual removal of the carp. Up to this point, approximately 300 had already died.
To save the carp from certain death the only option available was for them to be removed. Lavender Hall Fishery were granted a licence to remove the fish by the Environment Agency, and netting started on the evening of the 15th, and continued the following day. They eventually removed approximately 650 fish, and these were transferred into one of their own lakes’s at Berkswell. The carp were of a good size, ranging from 3-5lbs. It is believed that less than 5% of the original stock, now remain. So, in the end, it was a ‘Triumph Over Adversity’.
It is rumoured that the carp were illegally introduced into the lake in the early 2000’s as small fish, and have since thrived due to the natural food available to them (daphnia etc) plus the supplement of bread and other treats from the general public. In recent years, due to their growth and over population, in conjuction with Leamington Angling Association, the lake has been regulary netted by Jon Wall Fisheries of Newark. Many of the carp have now been stocked into LAA’s own fishing lakes. In the spring of 2023 the lake was netted again, and a small number of fish were removed.