The largest of the Radley Gravel Pits was pumped dry at the start of 2004. A fence was erected, and the pit was pumped full of fuel ash slurry from Didcot Power Station.

By the start of 2006 when featured on this blog there stretched a black morass, partly covered by reeds and grass.

A fence still surrounds the area – marked by lifebuoys; but now ten years since the gravel pit was filled, trees have grown to cover about half of the area, and are colonising the other half.

Nearby Thrupp Lake was saved from a similar fate by the Save Radley Lakes campaigners. It had already matured into a lake.