The main attraction of Liddells for John and Clare has been the variety of habitats it offers, however, one particular, and particularly important habitat has been absent - ponds. Anyone interested in encouraging wildlife will know that adding a pond is one of the best things to do, so in the autumn of 2018, and with the help of a digger and a digger operator, four ponds were created.  They are all on the Wetland and capitalise on areas where water collected. Two of these, at the base of the Crag and on the west boundary, are more like scrapes that will fill up and dry through the year. Such ponds are called vernal ponds because they are typically at their peak depth in the spring (the meaning of "vernal" has to do with the spring). The absence of fish is a very important characteristic since it provides amphibians with breeding locations free from predation by fish. The other two, one beside the roadway from the Spoil Heaps to the Wetland and the other halfway along the northern edge,  are bigger and have standing water throughout the year. These two have had overflow pipes installed.

In their first Spring, all four ponds were beset by algae which proved disheartening, however apparently this is typical of new ponds where the subsoil has been disturbed releasing nutrients on which the algae thrives. John and Clare added barley straw and barley straw extract and made valiant efforts to fish the algae out, and eventually the algae disappeared, which it possibly would have done without intervention. Algae did reappear in the autumn of 2019 but this time John and Clare were a bit more phlegmatic about it, trusting that the pond ecology would eventually sort itself out. More oxygenating plants will also be added which will assimilate nutrients and so starve the algae. 

What was startling was just how quickly plant and insect life appeared on and in the ponds. In the ponds’ first year all the following appeared:

Water starwort, water boatmen, pond skaters, whirligig beetles, great diving beetles, leeches, frogspawn, tadpoles, frogs, mallards, grey heron, and several species of dragonflies and damselflies.

The ponds have set John and Clare new challenges - identifying new species and how to photograph them.

(Thanks to John P for contributing his photographs)

In the autumn of 2019 John and Clare decided to have help to improve the existing ponds. Carl and his 8 ton digger deepened, enlarged and sculpted the sides of the four ponds and then dug out a new one. Carl also did some clearing of the grips to help the water flow. 2020 will reveal the effects of this work.