Tucked away in a shaded woodland glade on the outskirts of Brighton is a small wildlife pond. Planted with native aquatic species and surrounded by a neat ‘dead-hedge’, it is an exciting new addition to Hollingbury Woods.
Dragonflies danced over the pond as garden writer Kate Bradbury officially opened it on 11 August, marking the culmination of six months’ hard work by volunteers from Friends of Hollingbury and Burstead Woods, who have looked after the woodland since the great storm of 1987. The project was led by Will Johanson from national wildlife charity Froglife, which helps conserve the UK’s reptile and amphibian species and was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
An enthusiastic group of those involved with the pond’s creation and members of the local community attended the opening ceremony to celebrate its completion. Speaking at the event, Brighton and Hove Mayor Mohammed Asaduzzaman praised the “wonderful project” which he said would be an asset to the local area.
First comes the digging of the pond
‘Tennis glade’ (below the tennis courts in Hollingbury Park) was chosen as the most suitable venue for the pond because the glade is relatively open and would receive enough sunlight to allow plant growth.
Over last winter, the Friends cleared the surrounding vegetation and, in early March 2024, the digging work began. The dimensions of the pond were marked out using tape, to act as a guide for those with spades in hand, all raring to go.
Excavating the pond basin through the chalk bedrock was hard going, with a combination of chalk and flint testing the resolve and strength of volunteers: “So many flints in every spadeful!” wrote Gill on the Friends’ Facebook page.
The site was sloping, so it was very challenging to keep the pond site level, which involved moving spoil from the ‘uphill’ edge to form the ‘downhill’ edge of the pond. “It was good fun and hard work in quite heavy rain at times!” remembers Karen.
These early stages of digging took several sessions and many hours, punctuated with welcome tea breaks. “A very rewarding session. I can’t believe how much we all got done!” said Jane after one particularly hard morning’s work.
Lining the pond
Once the pond basin had been dug out to a sufficient depth, the pond was lined to provide protection from sharp stones and ensure that it collects and retains water. A synthetic rubber liner was laid on top of underlay, with all the volunteers taking an edge to help drape it. The liner was extremely heavy, so it took the combined strength of the group to manoeuvre it into place.
In order to reduce the risk of the bank above the pond collapsing, a revetment wall was constructed to stabilise it. This involved further considerable hard work, with volunteers digging post-holes into the chalk. The wall will act as a hibernation site and shelter for amphibians using the pond.
Whilst building the pond, the Friends received lots of interest from members of the local community who regularly enjoy walking in the woods. Several left positive comments on the Friends Facebook page: “You guys are just amazing!! Thank you for all your hard work,” wrote one. “You are all local heroes. Thanks to every one of you,” said another.
Planting up and making the dead-hedge
Once rain water, which arrived in abundance in May, had partially filled the pond, it was time to introduce aquatic plants. “Submerged plants improve the availability of oxygen in the water, floating plants provide shelter and marginal plants provide shade and cover for pond inhabitants,” Will explained.
Fifteen native aquatic plant species were then planted by volunteers in June, including water figwort, spearwort, water mint and hornwort. Many will flower, providing opportunities for flying insects to feed on their nectar: “Good selection”, wrote a Facebook supporter. “Look forward to seeing the pond get established and attract wildlife to it.”
Finally, a dead-hedge was constructed of cut branches, an important barrier to protect the pond from dogs or people entering the water. Will told us: “Dead-hedges are brilliant for wildlife: invertebrates feed on the deadwood, they provide shelter for nesting birds and a hibernation site for amphibians.”
Biodiversity and community impact
Froglife and the Friends are delighted with the result, after over 300 volunteer hours spent working on the project. “We’re optimistic that the pond will support breeding amphibians,” said Will. “Common frogs, smooth newts and common toads have all been recorded within 1km of Hollingbury Woods.”
As well as amphibians, ponds support a range of other wildlife such as dragonflies and damselflies. Many animals also use ponds as a source of drinking water, especially on the otherwise dry South Downs. Will said: “We were excited to observe signs of badgers visiting the Hollingbury Woods pond only weeks after it began to fill with water.”
This pond sits as part of a local network of ponds created through Froglife’s Discovering Dewponds project. Other nearby ponds have been created at Balfour Primary School and Hollingdean Park Orchard.
As well as supporting the biodiversity of the local area, “we’re also delighted that it will be used as a community resource”, said Lily from Froglife. Students from Balfour Primary School’s ‘Wild Things’ after-school club have already enjoyed dipping in the pond and adding to the dead-hedge.
Will added: “Working alongside the Friends to create the wildlife pond has been a very rewarding process. We at Froglife have been inspired by the group’s enthusiasm and commitment towards the pond project and to supporting the wider aims of the Neighbourhood Wildlife Corridor programme. Members of the Friends should be very proud of the result of their efforts!”
Many thanks to Will and Lily from Froglife for all the advice, help and enthusiasm in creating this project. We look forward to seeing the Hollingbury pond teeming with wildlife over the coming years, as well as providing plenty of enjoyment for children and the local community.
If you want to make your own pond, see Froglife’s ‘Just Add Water’ guide for information and advice, and add the location to our map of habitats.
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