Leighside Pond Restoration

In 2006, the Junior Management Board was invited to apply for some lottery funding under the Young Roots scheme. The young Board members decided to restore Leighside pond that was built by Burwood Godlee for the garden of his house, Leighside, which once stood in the woodland but which was pulled down in 1948 due to flooding.

The pond restoration was not enough, however, for the Board who also bid for funding to produce a highly innovative water-saving poster, not simply from the point of view of humans but of creatures generally.

The poster was launched in June 2007 and the pond works began in October 2007. The early photos of 2006 were taken by Junior Board member Aimee Watkinson. The Nature Corridors for All team of adults with learning disabilities have agreed to take monthly fixed point photos of the changes to the area over the next few years.

This is the only place where palmate newts have been found on site and the restored pond is a welcome new habitat for wildlife.

View fixed point photos as a slide show