The Preston Park wildlife pond sits at the north end of the park right next to St Peter’s churchyard. It is set in a wildlife area that has been adopted by the St Peters Churchyard Volunteers. The pond had a leak for some years which got progressively worse, to the point where it dried out each year before its inhabitants could complete their lifecycles.
After over two years of hard work by CityParks and multiple volunteer groups, the new wildlife pond with its woven Hazel fence was completed on 10th December. Here follows a very brief overview of how this was done:
Summer 2021 – Community Payback team dig out the old leaky concrete liner.
September 2021 – CityParks agree to supply ballast and cement for new liner.
October 2021 – Friends of Preston Park agree to supply edging rocks and sealant.
February 2022 – New granite pond edging laid by St Peters Churchyard Volunteers.
October 2022 – Corporate volunteers from Responsible Travel and CityParks Ranger volunteers lay the new concrete base. Sealed later that month by Preston Park and St Peter’s Churchyard volunteers.
November 2022 – CityParks Ranger volunteers spend several volunteer days in Stanmer woods harvesting Sweet Chestnut and Hazel with which to build the new pond fence.
December 2022 – CityParks Ranger volunteers construct the new woven Hazel fence.
Planting has commenced and we hope some new residents will be moving in very soon.
A big thank you to all those who helped bring our pond back for wildlife!
