November 2006: What is going on?
Well, after 2 years of taking rainfall readings, compiling data from bore-holes and frantic fundraising, we are finally starting work on Phase 1 of the Restoration of the Lower Greenmoor Pond. Contractors are installing a collection chamber and drain, which will siphon water from the aquifer and enable it to run through the drain into the pond. The aquifer runs directly beneath the clay layer, along a seam of silver sand, which is located about 2½ to 3 metres below the surface of the ground.
Phase 1 completion! Groundwater is now flowing from the pipe at a litre a minute
Phase 2 of the project will commence on Monday 4th Dec – weather permitting! During this phase, two trenches will be installed and lined with a clay and bentonite ‘mat’, with the intention of forming a barrier to water from an area of the aquifer which has been escaping down through the woodland for the past 6 years.
Phase 3 will be undertaken in January, when a number of trees will be removed, coppiced or pollarded around the periphery of the pond. This will help to stabilise the bank and reduce the canopy over the water, thereby letting in more light.
Phase 4 will commence in February or early March and will be the final re-structuring of the pond banks, to create shallows and marshy areas, which will support a wide and diverse range of species.
The Greenmoor Ponds is an area of registered Common Land and owned by Woodcote Parish Council.
This project – and the site – is managed by The Woodcote Conservation Group.
Thanks for funding the Restoration work must go to The Trust for Oxfordshire Environment (TOE) South Oxfordshire District Council and the Woodcote Parish Council.
Karen Woolley – Woodcote Conservation Group
Karen.woolley@the-farthings.com
Tel: 01491 681571
Update: March 2007
Since the completion of Phases 1 and 2, the water level in the Lower Pond has risen - and continues to rise - rapidly. Phases 3 and 4 were completed on schedule, and we now at last have a pond that has not only regained the volume of water that it had before, but also one that should provide a more attractive and species-rich habitat than the rather austere rectangular piece of water that it had been turned into in the mid-twentieth century. The Conservation Group will, over the coming months, be turning its attention to making the whole area more 'visitor-friendly' once the muddy surrounds (a result both of the recent work and of the recent exceptional rainfall) have dried out.