Ayrshire: Aubery Pond cleared by Largs Model Boat Club volunteers

The herculean task was as a result of the Largs Model Boat Club volunteers taking the matter into their own hands and clearing out the mucky pond and restoring it with clean water.

And they hope that their efforts will catch the eye of younger people as they are keen to get more youthful members to join their ranks.

The two-week operation was facilitated thanks to Independent councillor, Ian Murdoch, who helped the model boat club in getting the necessary permission and materials - and he told the News he was delighted to see the volunteers' endeavours.

Pond was cleared by volunteers from model boat club (Image: David Cook)

Ian said: "I was involved in securing the permission from the council after Largs Model Boat Club offered to do it themselves after we were initially quoted it would cost between £5,000 and £10,000 to get the works completed.

"I managed to get them the valve key and some equipment to assist in their voluntary work as well as the barrels and brushes and they have really done an excellent job and I am very proud to see this.

"The pond was initially cleared of water and then the task was to get all the muck and stones out of the pond and give it a good clean and then re-fill it. It was a huge task and I take my hat off to them.

"The water was filthy and the pond was badly needing being cleared out. The pipes were full of plastic bags and a very high percentage of dog poo bags and it goes to show you how bad plastic and polythene bags are when it comes to the environment."

"It really is remarkable that the team of volunteers involved were all over 70 years of age - they are a real credit to the community."

Clearance team in action! (Image: David Cook)

Model Boat club spokesperson Alasdair Woods, 80, said: "Most of the lads have been working very hard over a period of nine days clearing the muck from the bottom of the pond and it is the best job I have ever seen."

Club president Brendan Bocker, 70, said: "We started with draining and one of the major problems we have had was the exit pipe was broken slightly and disjointed and it kept blocking up. It was blocking with a lot of detritus, and there was around two to three inches of silage like pea soup.

Selfie endeavour -Volunteers put in a daily effort to clear pond of muck (Image: David Cook)

"We raked as much of this and we took 25 barrel loads a day for three days and then it was manual labour with great big brushes.

"We started at 3pm on Monday, April 24 and finished the work after two weeks on Friday, May 5. We bought a new pump and a new transformer to help with the refilling of the pond and great help from the company too."

Brenan continued: "We are always on the lookout for new members and we would welcome younger members to get involved and help preserve the future of the Model Boat Club, which has been in existence for many years."

Watch a video below:

Pop along to Aubery on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons to meet members of the club.