Aldenham Sailing Club officially depart Aldenham Reservoir

Aldenham Sailing Club handed back the last of its property at Aldenham Reservoir to Hertfordshire County Council in mid-January.

Previously, the club's main compound was transferred back to the private owners of the reservoir, Liberty Lake Leisure Ltd.

The sailing club announced in June last year with "great sadness" that it was ending its lease in response to the owners reducing the water level in the reservoir.

Behind these gates is where Aldenham Sailing Club used to store some of their boats

The club's boats were used by members of all ages, as well as schools, but the reduction in water meant it was too dangerous to launch boats onto the lake.

Some of the club's sailors have since signed up with other clubs around Hertfordshire, while others have given up the hobby for good.

Liberty co-owner Mahesh Gosrani described the sailing club as "one of the best attractions on the lake" and said it was "unfortunate" the club decided to leave.

The owners had offered the club £100,0000 to build a new clubhouse to store boats, but the sailing club rejected this because they opposed plans by Liberty to build holiday pods around the reservoir because the club said they'd lose space to launch boats onto the lake.

The holiday pods scheme was later withdrawn by Liberty after Hertsmere Borough Council made it clear it would not support the plans.

Some of the club's boat storage and launching area would have been lost to the holiday pods scheme

The reservoir owners began draining Aldenham Reservoir in January 2020 based on an inspection undertaken by its inspector on the dam wall at the reservoir.

Liberty, as owners, have a duty to maintain the dam wall, which is costly - and decided to reduce the level of water to ease pressure on the wall.

This is despite a Freedom of Information request at the time revealing the inspector had stated the 225-year-old dam is in a "satisfactory condition" and although the engineer said there are "effective means to lower the reservoir water level", there were no recommendations in the report that immediate action was required.

The holiday pods scheme, Liberty say, would have helped bring in funds to pay for repairs to the dam.

By the middle of last year, the "once stunningly beautiful" reservoir had been partially turned into a slurry as a result of a sluice valve being open for months.

The reservoir pictured in 2020. Previously, this was full of water before the sluices opened

This was full of water before the sluice was left open for months

It prompted a protest in the summer, set up by campaign group Save Aldenham Reservoir, with more than 200 people taking part.

Fast forward to now and the reservoir is looking in much healthier condition - Mr Gosrani told this paper: "The water level in the reservoir has risen because we have closed the sluice valves.

"We are giving the valves a rest and letting the water flow through the slipway."

This was the reservoir pictured last month, a far cry from before with water now nearly reaching the dam wall. Credit: Save Aldenham Reservoir

Even though the valves have been temporarily closed, Mr Gosrani says a dam inspector recently reiterated to the borough council that "urgent action is still required" on the dam wall.