The Pond 1900. Thanks to John Cooper for the use of this photograph. |
Welcome to Friends of Watford Pond. Formed in April 2009 by Erica Morgan and Steve Dilks, our aims are to raise awareness and improve the quality of life for the pond's inhabitants. This natural and unique Pond dates back to before the 1800's. First used by the Victorians for watering horses and livestock brought to Watford's Tuesday markets. Originally there were four ponds in the area but by 1935, three were filled in. Our last remaining Pond. Home to mallards and moorhens who regularly breed here. Goldfish are in good supply which attracts a grey heron. A frog, newt and emperor dragonflies have also been found here. The Pond is also well stocked with a selection of water lilies, yellow irises and rushes. Crows, gulls, starlings and pigeons feed in the area to complete the picture. We are proud to have so much wildlife in the middle of an increasingly busy town centre. We are going to inform you of what we have observed and documented since April 2009. Our letters of protest to decision makers and the media are included. Plans to redevelop The Parade will effect The Pond extremely. Downsizing it could be the first step in removing it altogether in the future. Do we want it replaced with a water feature? The people say no. The Pond is part of Watford's heritage and should be respected as such. The petition 'Say NO to Downsizing Watford Pond' containing 1,040 signatures was presented to Watford Borough Council on 18th January 2010 . We believe downsizing The Pond will be detrimental to the wildlife. The Cultural Masterplan for Watford will take a number of years to complete with The Parade cluster being last on the agenda. We hope we have succeeded in our quest so far but the future of our pond will always be uncertain. The people of Watford want future generations to enjoy this unique and natural feature. The Pond is the heart of Watford and needs to be protected and maintenance improved at all costs. Special thanks to Bertie who's courage through adversity inspired us to form Friends of Watford Pond. |
15th May 2012 |
Meeting at the Town Hall with BDP and Yvonne Shaw (Town Centre and Programmes Manager.) Initial plans for The Pond have been drawn up. The suggestions include .. 1. Removing the weir. 2. Building a bridge across the centre of The Pond. 3. Placing steps down into the water at the bottom end.
We objected to removing the weir as this downsizes The Pond. The main problem with the bridge is that the Moorhens nest in the middle of the water and the wildlife breeding season has to be taken into consideration. We explained that steps entering the water puts the safety of wildlife at risk, especially when feeding ducklings which have been removed in the past. Also the steps may become slippery if the algea returns. Opening up The Pond in this way would also produce more littering.
A leak investagation has to be carried out and improvments/maintainence are undecided. Other consultations are planned for June. |
1st April 2012 |
The first chicks have hatched of the year, three moorhens. |
| 16th February 2012 | BDP supply feedback so far regarding The Parade cluster. Great news, the majority of people want to keep The Pond. The fountains have slowly shrunk! The filter must need cleaning out. The Town Hall is two minutes from The Pond and many council employees pass by, do they not notice? |
Watford Pond February 2012
26th January 2012 |
Mayor Dorothy Thornhill reveals she has received a pond related 'death threat' over her ambitions to redevelop The Parade. Fountains are back on. |
1st January 2012 |
Happy New Year to all our friends. I can now announce last year The Pond produced thirteen mallards and seven moorhens! The best year yet since monitoring began. As you may have noticed the fountains have been off since 30th November now. Stefan Kemp is now the man to direct your complaints to. Contact him via the Town Hall at 01923-226400. |
11th December 2011 |
BDP architects have won the tender from WBC to redevelop The Parade. Meet them at the Christmas Market 16/17 th December from 10am to 1pm. Please air your views! You can also email whatifwatford@bdp.com or call 020 7812 8341. The decision was made in January 2010 to create an events space in the area. To what extent this will effect The Pond is unknown as yet. 10 ducklings arrived on the scene yesterday morning, we have had a very mild autumn but the frost is now here and temperatures are dropping. Poor things won't last long. |
4th September 2011 |
Seven ducklings have arrived. We wish them luck in this wet and windy weather. |
3rd August 2011 |
Three moorhen chicks have appeared, this is the third brood so far this season. The water lilies are not growing this summer. This is not good news as they provide shade which limits the growth of algae. I can only blame the polluted condition of the water. We have had complaints regarding this and also the amount of garbage continually thrown in. It is a disgrace the council has allowed The Pond to reach this sad state. Very few people seem to take any notice of the signs advising not to feed the wildlife and in this hot weather the rotting bread only aids the unsavory aroma emanating from it's murky water. The fountains keep getting blocked and again we are only down to one. Watford Borough Council have a scheduled maintenance plan in the near future, which include poring in chemicals to treat the water. It remains to be seen what effect this will have on the health of our Pond. |
Ducks playing with fountain on Watford Pond. Thanks to Ernie for the use of this footage.
16th April 2011 |
Oceana the nightclub have applied to the council to place 10 tables and 40 chairs outside the premises which is next to The Pond. I have written to them opposing the application. On a brighter note we have three new moorhen chicks. |
12th April 2011 |
Newt found in The Pond. Not sure how it got there or if there are any others. Sadly it died before we could transfer it to Cassiobury Park. We have six ducklings left and one moorhen chick. |
Snowi
30th March 2011 |
Broken Beak has nine new ducklings in The Pond, born on the 25th. Yesterday we had two moorhen chicks hatch as well. On Saturday somebody released a pure white pigeon at the pond. Kept as a pet this pigeon with his clipped wings would not have survived very long and in fact he fell into the pond. Steve fished him out. Snowi is at my place now. |
Pigeons at The Pond 18th December
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