For a few years now the pond in the Jubilee wood has failed to hold any quantity of water, obviously it had sprung a leak. When the pond was first excavated a very old, hand dug field drain was found to pass right through the excavation. It was sufficiently plugged up not to be a cause for concern and so it proved. There have been several winters where the whole pond area has flooded and water retention lasted most of the year but then it didn’t.
The decision was made to have the pond re-profiled and get if possible some blue grey subsoil clay smeared onto the pond sides to puddle/ waterproof it. https://www.silverfernagri.co.uk/ were contracted to do the work. Jarrod brought along an appropriately sized 360 tracked excavator with a tilt bucket fitting. This would give greater control over profiling slopes and creating a shallow run out which is important for wildlife ponds.
We came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the old field drain causing the leak, more a combination of drying out, shrinkage and deep fracturing of the surrounding soil. The pond is now a little larger with a bigger and shallower run out. The spoil heaps have been regraded with grass and wild flower seed sown. Given that its a year of very little rainfall, its good to see that the deluge of the 14th of November 2025 which gave 76 mm of rain across the parish has put a meaningful depth of water into the pond.
We expect plant and insect life to repopulate the pond over time. Nature will do its thing and quite a lot of insects and amphibians only need bodies of water for the breeding season. Expect to see water boatmen, diving beetles and those “wizzy whig” beetles first. The bottom of the pond has been repopulated with cobbles and old clay drainage pipes as potential habitat shelters. The seat is still in place and there are several wildlife data sheets which will help you identify pond visitors in a dispenser above the seat.
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