Ice Age Pond Surveying

We are just finalising our list of sites to survey in March and April 2022.  If you would like to volunteer to do one of our pond surveys then please do get in touch d.hutton@herefordshirewt.co.uk  and we will add you to our list and find you a pond.  If you have a pond, you think might be Ice Age and are happy for us to visit then please let us know (if you have told us before, then give us a gentle nudge, we don’t want to miss any ponds out).

Ice Age Pond Stakeholder Day

The Ice Age Ponds Project is planning an event in April which is aimed at Farmers, Landowners and communities who may have existing or filled in (‘Ghost’) Ice age Ponds on land under their control.

We may already have been in touch or even surveyed a pond on your land and we would like to be able to stay in touch about our future plans and most of all seek your views on how we can improve the County’s Ice Age Pond Heritage.

We are arranging a meeting as follows:

Thursday 28th April 2022 at Moccas Village Hall. 1.30 pm – 3.30 pm, possibly followed by a guided walk to see some examples of Ice Age Ponds (to be confirmed). https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/directory-record/1371/moccas-village-hall.

To book free for this event please go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/306483980837

There will be a talk at 2.00 pm about Ice Age Ponds, and some of the work the Ice Age Ponds Project been doing as well as what we have found out.  This will be followed by an informal questions and answer session and a chance to gather your views on how future projects and funding could help to conserve these amazing features of our landscape.

What we’d like to find out is:

  • Do you have an Ice Age Pond on your land and would you like to see it restored?
  • What would encourage you to restore your pond/s eg funding? Advice? Management Plans?

There will be tea, coffee, cake and biscuits available from 1.30pm and following the talk.

Please let David Hutton (d.hutton@herefordshirewt.co.uk ) know if you can come to the meeting or book free at the Eventbrite links above as we’ll need to organise catering.

Go on an Ice Age Adventure!

As the days get longer and the Easter Holidays are ahead, you might be looking for a new place to explore.  Why not download our free Ice Age Ponds app and visit Sturts Nature reserve or Birches Nature reserve and take a walk with some Ice Age animals and discover these ponds looking at their best.  You can also do our landscape trail either in a car or by bike.  For more details on the trails and apps visit www.iceageponds.org.

If you like treasure hunts, have you tried Geocaching?  There are lots of little hidden pots around the country just waiting to be discovered. Simply sign up for free at www.geocaching.com and, using your smartphone with a free geocaching app or a hand held GPS with the cache locations downloaded, you can get started.  Our 3 geocache trails been designed to explore the Ice Age landscape of north western Herefordshire with 2-4 caches along each route.  There are plenty of other things to explore on the reserves, so take your time and discover this fabulous ice age landscape.

A geocache hiding at Titley Pool – perfect for an Easter treasure hunt

Ice Age Ponds Project Conference

Just a reminder, for those who couldn’t make the day, or struggled with sound problems or just want to do it all again, all of the talks are now available to watch at your leisure, just visit: https://www.herefordshirewt.org/ice-age-ponds-conference-2nd-march-2022

Find out more:

To keep up to date with our project, please follow us on instagram (@earth_heritage_trust @herefordshirewildlifetrust ) twitter (@buildingstones @HerefordshireWT) or visit our project blog to see updates and newsletters: https://www.herefordshirewt.org/iceageponds/newsletters-blogs.