The Village Pond

Photograph of the pond taken around 1900. The thatched Whitehall Farmhouse is visible in the back right of the picture, while the house on the left was actually three cottages. These were demolished in the 1950s having got into disrepair.

The pond in the 19th and 20th centuries

The village pond is situated on the south side of Longstanton Road, near the crossroads. There has been a pond at this location since at least 1834, as evidenced by the 1834 Enclosure Act map that labels a Public Pond there, in an area labelled as Ale House Green, which extended west from the crossroads on both sides of what is now Longstanton Road.

Section of the 1834 Enclosure map showing the Public Pond

At one time there was also a second part of the pond on the other side of Longstanton Road, which would have been only a narrow track 150 years ago. This has now disappeared, but frogs still occasionally move from one side of the road to the other. Prior to 1950, there were at least five ponds in the village, including two under what is now Mead View nearby, but the others have been filled in and built over. This loss of ponds reflects what has happened throughout the UK, as we have lost around half a million ponds in the last 100 years. The Longstanton Road pond is the only historic pond still remaining in the village.

Formerly part of Whitehall Farm (which has now been redeveloped), the pond would have been used as a watering place for farm livestock, and also for swelling wooden cartwheels to fit metal rims. The pond has a solid bottom so that horse-drawn vehicles could be driven through the water in dry weather order to prevent the wood from drying out and losing contact with the rim. Indeed, recollections of village residents include horses pulling carts into the pond, from north to south, for this purpose. Sometimes humans went into the pond too: a newspaper report from June 1912 reports of a man who fell off his horse into the pond. Recorded memories also exist of children walking on the ice in winter.

In the late 1970s and 80s the pond was home to a pair of black swans, which were an unusual sight in Cambridgeshire. Photographs from 1987 show a well-maintained and flourishing pond, and local residents recalled large numbers of frogs as well as some newts.

The pond in 1987, when significant clearance work was carried out by South Cambridgeshire District Council

Restoration in 2018

Unfortunately, the 30 years after 1987 saw the pond largely neglected, with little maintenance done. Vegetation grew up around the pond, and silt and rotting vegetation built up in it, giving off marsh gas (methane) and resulting in an ‘island’ of silt in the middle of the pond held up by methane released from the rotting vegetation below. Water runoff from the road also lead to significant contamination of the silt by hydrocarbons, as was confirmed when samples of silt were analysed in 2016. Both methane and hydrocarbons are toxic to wildlife. A wildlife survey in 2016 confirmed the poor health of the pond, especially around the silt island in the middle, although low numbers of common frogs and toads were found as well as at least four great crested newts (Triturus cristatus, a protected species).

**Left:** Silt island, 2016. **Right:** Accumulated silt, 2017

The Victorian railings, visible in the old photographs, had also become damaged. They were replaced in 2017 by the Cambridgeshire County Council Highways Department with financial help from local donations and the Parish Council.

**Left:** Old railings, prior to replacement. **Right:** New railings, April 2017

Meanwhile, the Oakington and Westwick Community Plan Environment Action Group worked to address the problem of the contaminated silt. This was eventually removed by a floating suction dredger in March 2018, financed by Oakington and Westwick Parish Council and by South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Wildlife Enhancement Scheme fund. Around 125 cubic metres of silt was removed, and vegetation that had grown up around the pond was also cut back.

Since then, volunteers from the village’s Environment Action Group have carried out regular maintenance on the pond. This work has included removing excess duckweed and water meal from the surface of the pond, cutting back vegetation, and keeping the aggressive reedmace (bullrush) in check.

**Left:** A. Dennis carrying out maintenance, April 2019. **Centre:** Duckweed clearance, March 2022. **Right:** Bullrush removal by Mead Plant and Grab, January 2024

Wildlife and Ecology

The pond is home to a number of species including

Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus): A moorhen has nested each year in the pond since at least 2016, producing up to six chicks each year.
Great crested newts (Triturus cristatus): Four great crested newts, including both males and females, were found in the pond during a wildlife survey in 2016 carried out by Rob Mungovan, who was the South Cambridgeshire District Council Ecology Officer at that time. The survey was carried out in the evening, using a special torch, because great crested newts are more active after dark. Populations of great crested newts declined significantly in the UK and across Europe during the 20^th century due to loss of habitat from development and intensive agriculture, and as a result is a protected species at every stage in its lifecycle.
Common frogs (Rana temporaria) and toads (Bufo bufo) are both known to breed in the pond. 20–30 of each species were found, along with spawn, in the 2016 wildlife survey.
Reedmace (bullrush) (Typha latifolia) is thought to have been introduced to the pond at some point in the past by a well-meaning passer-by. Unfortunately, it is very invasive and will take over the whole pond to the exclusion of other species if left unchecked. Growing mainly in the side of the pond near the road, it has been periodically removed by the village Environment Action Group.
Yellow flag (Iris pseudacorus) also grows in the area of the pond by the road.
Sweet flag (Acorus colummus) is also present in the pond. A relatively rare plant, it looks similar to the iris but has puckered leaves.
Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) has been found growing in the pond.
Common reed (Phragmites communis) was planted on the east bank in 2022 to help stabilise the bank against erosion.
Duckweed (Lemna spp.), and the smaller water meal (Wolffia spp.) sometimes bloom on the water surface. Both are an indication of nutrient rich water.

Visitors and other species:

Ducks (Anas spp. and others) visit but do not breed here, probably because the pond is too small.
A kingfisher (Alcedo atthis) was briefly spotted over the pond in 2018, probably just checking for fish. Kingfishers normally nest in holes in banks by running water, so it is unlikely that it was looking for a nest site.
Fish have not been introduced, in order to encourage numbers of invertebrates.