The village pond at Old Malden, known as Plough Pond, is at least 500 years old, and is the one surviving pond of three that originally occupied the site. Once a rural pond alongside the village green and public house, now, surrounded by housing and traffic of southwest London. Urbanisation is not kind to sensitive habitats such as ponds, and proximity of the pond to a busy road, in the past resulted in contaminated silts entering the pond. Some years ago the pond was dredged and the connection with the road was sealed up. Previously, a pump circulated the water, but this broke a number of years ago, and would cost £15,000 to replace. This has resulted in a build-up of duck weed, which can make the pond unattractive, although a recent water quality test found the water to be very clean.
In an effort to improve the pond for wildlife and in terms of its aesthetics, the Environment Trust visited the pond to remove previously cut vegetation, remove rubbish and prune a goat willow tree that contributes excess leaf litter to the pond.
There's more to do, but a start has been made. Future improvements could include skimming some of the duck weed off the pond, and perhaps laying the perimeter hedge. Ash poles from the nearby Manor Park could be used for this purpose.
We hope to have the results of a pond invertebrate survey conducted by Linda P. in the near future. Thanks for the photos Linda.
Plough Pond looking towards the road (Photo by Linda P.)
And, looking towards the Plough pub.
The trailer provided by Quadron Services was filled with cuttings. (Photo by Linda P.)
Those Greenspace Volunteers get everywhere. (Photo by Linda P.)
The Plough pub in 2013.
And, in the early 20th Century.
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