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Fleet, Hampshire

Civil parishes in HampshireFleet, HartHart DistrictTowns in HampshireUse British English from September 2015

Fleet is a town and civil parish in the Hart District of Hampshire, England, centred 38.2 miles (61.5 km) WSW of London and 13 miles (21 km) east of Basingstoke. It is the major town of the Hart District, and has large technology business areas, fast rail links to London, and is well connected to the M3. The Fleet built-up area has a total population of 42,835, and includes the contiguous parishes of Church Crookham, Crookham Village, Dogmersfield, and Elvetham Heath. The town has a prominent golf club, an annual half marathon, an athletics club, and four football clubs. The nearby service station on the motorway is named after the town. Hart, of which Fleet is the main town, was voted the best place to live in the UK by the Halifax Quality of Life study in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and again in 2017, above areas such as Elmbridge in Surrey and Wokingham in Berkshire. This is due to the highly affluent majority of the population, better weather and health conditions, high levels of access to leisure space, and the town's surrounding countryside which includes woodlands and the Basingstoke Canal.Local landmarks include Fleet Pond, the largest freshwater lake in Hampshire, and a High Street with many Victorian and Edwardian buildings. Fleet holds a weekly Saturday market in Gurkha Square.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Fleet, Hampshire (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Fleet, Hampshire
Orchard Fields, Hart Fleet

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Wikipedia: Fleet, HampshireContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 51.2834 ° E -0.8456 °
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Orchard Fields

Orchard Fields
GU51 4SN Hart, Fleet
England, United Kingdom
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Fleet Pond
Fleet Pond

Fleet Pond is a 48.3-hectare (119-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Fleet in Hampshire. It is also a Local Nature Reserve.This large and shallow lake, fed by Fleet Brook, is surrounded by reed beds, alder carr and oak and birch woodland. The lake has a rich aquatic flora and fauna, including large populations of reed warblers and other wetland birds.The pond has varied habitats surrounding it, including heathland, marsh, reedbed and woodland. The pond is first documented in 1324, when there were two ponds which were used as a fishery. In medieval times, "pond" always referred to a man-made structure, whereas "lake" referred to a natural feature, and so it is likely that the ponds were created by raising banks at the northern edge. From 1491, the Prior of Winchester leased the ponds to the occupier of Fleet Farm, in exchange for one hundred fresh fish a year, delivered to Winchester. When the lease was renewed in 1833, it was noted that there was now only one pond. The second pond was probably near Ancells Farm. Shortly afterwards, the London and Southampton Railway bought the pond for £50 as it stood in the way of their line, and built an embankment across the northern end. They appreciated its potential as a tourist destination, and opened Fleet Pond Halt so that day trippers could visit it. Much of the surrounding area became a military training ground in 1854, and as part of that training, soldiers built a 470-yard (430 m) trestle bridge across it in 1885. During the Second World War, the pond was drained, to make the area less visible to enemy aircraft, but it was refilled in 1947, and planted with reeds. The pond became one of the first SSSIs in Hampshire in 1951, and under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, duly re-registered, but to omit the portion north of the embankment. Hart District Council bought the pond and surrounding heath in 1972, after the army dubbed it redundant, and since 1976 has worked with the Fleet Pond Society to create a Local nature reserve. They have installed two bridges to create a circular walk around the pond.