A Fresh Start

This blog is basically a story about revival and survival – regeneration and conservation. The small Dorset village where I live is fortunate to have a special place set aside to protect and promote wildlife – the Charlton Down Nature Area. It was set up in 2008, some years after the conversion of the locality from a complex of redundant Victorian hospital buildings and surrounding fields into a new community of homes at the end of the 20th century. Our Nature Area has seen good times and bad times over the intervening period. To be honest, in some respects it had fallen into decline and failed to reach its full potential. Right now in 2024 we are trying anew to make the Charlton Down Nature Area the best possible place to support the greatest variety of wildlife while at the same time making it accessible for visitors to enjoy and to understand about Nature.

Our first step to increasing the biodiversity of the nature area actually took place last year when we decided to decrease the area that regularly came under the mower. At least a third of the site was cut short to the ground every fortnight with the aim of making the place look tidy. This mowing included a large expanse of ground near the entrance, adjacent to the fence around the community orchard. The grassy pathways around the site were also too wide for purpose. The routine cutting activity minimised the amount of habitat available for wildlife in what was already a relatively small set-aside space. The mowing regime had the unintended consequence of encouraging a view that the site was a recreational or playground area rather than the intended nature sanctuary. This was a pity. There are so many other more appropriate designated public-use open spaces in the village.

The second major step to improving the nature area has been the recent successful installation of a new wildlife pond. The pond that was originally constructed as a centre-piece for the site developed over the first few years into a wonderful place for all kinds of flora and fauna. It was beautiful to look at – a joy to behold. The soil is porous and chalky here so the pond was built with a liner to retain the water. As long as that butyl liner was intact, the wildlife flourished. But then the liner become the subject of repeated thoughtless attacks and damage which led to leakage and lowering of the water level. In the early days, the punctures in the pond liner were conscientiously repaired by volunteers but after a time the effort and expense of repair became onerous and the pond was left to its own devices. Eventually, all that was left was a muddy weedy patch at the bottom with sparse animal life or amenity value.

It has taken many years to obtain the funding to build a replacement pond. It has been expensive. Belief in the great importance of ponds on both a local and national level, for wildlife and community, has spurred on the commitment to seeing the re-construction of the pond. The funding was obtained late last year and building took place in February this year. It was during the worst possible cold and wet weather but the team worked well and efficiently. They saved the creatures and water remaining from the old pond in temporary tanks, before constructing the new pond to an improved design in the footprint of the old one. A liner was again employed but the main basin now has a shallow shelf around the perimeter of the deeper water and is topped with an edging of large rocks, creating an overall more diverse range of habitats. A sloping pebble “beach” area allows for wild animals to safely enter and leave the water. A smaller shallower bog habitat has been created on the other side of the bridge from the main pond. The bog area receives water only when the water level in the main pond rises after heavy rain and tops the rocky divide under the bridge.

Two months on and the pond and site are beginning to look good again. There had been a lot of collateral damage to the ground caused by the use of heavy machinery in such muddy conditions. New Spring growth has softened the appearance of the ruts. A new entrance pathway will soon be delivered. The future definitely looks brighter as long as we can minimise unwanted interference from the minority who do not appreciate what we are trying to achieve. Here I show a few general views of our newly developing nature area this April. Later I will share some past events and sightings, and monitor progress.

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