Pond Improvements at 70 Acre Hill near Sheffield
A previous open cast mine landscaped in the 1990s now boasts a network of rich grassland, gorse scrub, woodland and ponds. We were approached to deliver a programme of pond improvements to recreate areas of open water and remove shading bankside scrub.
The ponds were originally created over 10 years ago and have had little management since. As a result greater reedmace had taken over, leaving only a small margin of open water. Up to 75% of the reedmace in the large pond needed to be removed, requiring some large machinery and careful digging. No information was available as to how the pond was created: was it clay or plastic lined?
We worked very carefully removing gradual layers of silt and clay from a couple of test digs until we were confident that the pond was originally clay lined. We were then able to get to work removing the extensive matted root system and recreating the pond.
We have since been back to work with the team at 70 Acre Hill to train them in pond maintenance, and now the ponds are doing well. The frogs and toads have already used the margins of the island to spawn, the newts are thriving, and when we last visited the moorhen was busy making her nest.
