30th March 2008
A survey of possible places for a pond was carried out by the Friends, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Groundwork. The requirement was that the pond should fill naturally, and have a reasonable depth of water all year round.The picture shows the location of the site being worked out by GPS.
A soil auger is used to acquire samples of the soil at a depth of up to a metre.
On checking the soil it was found to be a sandy loam which would drain very quickly and mean the pond would be dry much of the year. Other soil samples were taken from a few metres from the first site, but these also showed that the soil was a sandy loam with magnesium, again there was no clay. The magnesium in the soil rises and falls fairly frequently again not a good sign for a pond
Further sites for a pond were investigated and will be discussed by the Friends, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Groundwork.