Starting work restoring the Georgian lilypond has been a longstanding ambition of KWAG, and we finally got the opportunity in December. One of the issues we’ve faced has been that the pond and lodges don’t fall within the area managed by Parks, so insurance for our volunteers has been more difficult to agree through the Council’s Property team. Fortunately that hurdle was cleared late last year and a few hardy members began work just before Christmas.

There has been a, literally, growing issue of self-seeded trees taking advantage of the choked pond and lower water levels to establish themselves in the shallower margins. This was particularly apparent alongside Napier Miles Road where views across the pond had virtually disappeared last summer. Whilst our work felling these is only a stop-gap measure, and they will likely re-grow, it’s important to arrest their growth before they become too large for us to manage and permanently damage the pond fabric.

With the help of wellies and waders, and not without some wet encounters, we traversed much of the pond area, cutting down pretty much all of the sallow saplings and carrying the waste away to discrete locations on the other side of the road. The ivy and brambles clogging the wall and ramps leading into the pond were also tackled, reopening the whole area again for the first time in years.

Eventually, the reeds that remain will completely choke the pond, and there was little sign of open water encountered during works. It’s important for the ecology of the pond that the reeds are removed at some point, but that challenge was well beyond our immediate ambitions for the day.

We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who lent a hand last month; this was something more unusually challenging than our usual work, but the results really speak for themselves. We continue work behind the scenes to develop a rescue plan for the area and lodges.