Happy New Year. We are on the final stretch of our wonderful project and all the hard work of our fabulous volunteers is coming together. During the last part of the project we want to make sure we keep surveying more ponds and share all the information that we have gathered over the last 5 years with as many people as possible.
Thank you celebrations
We had a lovely volunteer drop-in “Thank you” session on 10th December. It was wonderful to see those who could join us for a chat – thanks to those who braved the cold to come and see us. For those who weren’t able to come along, don’t worry, all the information and updates will be shared either on the project websites (https://www.herefordshirewt.org/iceageponds) or at our conference (see below) or at other events through spring.
Winter Volunteer Training
We are running some online training events and talks during the cold, dark and probably wet days of January and February. These are open to everyone and will be through zoom again. The sessions are in preparation for going back out and surveying in March – although they would be of interest to anyone who likes ponds and ice age landscapes.
Thursday 3rd February 10.30 – 11.30am – Marvellous Maps
Project Officer Beth Andrews who will take a foray into the many different types of maps that we have been using for the Ice Age Ponds project. Discover where to find them, what they can tell us and how we use them to discover Ice Age Ponds in Herefordshire.
Zoom link for meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83647684487?pwd=YjNmZVpDWUtOUmlpR3JLc3l4UjNmdz09
Thursday 10th February 7.30 – 8.30pm – How to be a pond champion
We are looking for people to share our love of Ice Age Ponds with the world. Join us to find out some of the many ways you can get involved and become a “Pond Champion”.
Thursday 17th February 10.30 – 12noon – How to survey an Ice Age Pond
This session is designed to help those going out to complete our Ice Age Pond survey forms. Whether you are new to the project, or need a refresher session, join us and find out more.
Thursday 24th February 10.00 – 11.00am – Ponds and Pollinators
We are delighted to have Dr Richard Walton, from Newcastle University give this special talk on the importance of ponds to our many pollinating insects.
Tuesday 8th March 10.00 – 11.00am – Restoring overgrown ponds or ghost ponds
Another fabulous guest speaker we are thrilled to have – Prof. Carl Sayer, from UCL will be talking about his many years experience of pond restoration, including working with the Norfolk ponds project and the Pond Restoration Research Group.
All the details of the events and links to join will be available on the Ice Age Ponds project pages (https://www.herefordshirewt.org/iceageponds/training-events-resources) and the Earth Heritage Trust events pages. (https://earthheritagetrust.org/events/)
End of Project Conference
Just a quick reminder of our end of project conference on Wednesday 2nd March 2022. We will be presenting our findings and sharing our success. We couldn’t have done this project without our fabulous volunteers, landowners and pond champions and hope that lots of you will be able to join us – virtually or in person. All the details of speakers and how to book will be sent out in early February. Watch out for your invite!
Ice Age Ponds Leaflet
We are delighted to announce that we have just received the new “Ice Age Ponds & Landscapes” explore guide from the printers. This new leaflet includes 2 circular walks around some fabulous Ice Age landscape at Kenchester and Staunton-on-Wye. The guide will be available to purchase from the Earth Heritage Trust soon!
Ice Age ponds App and Website
We are thrilled to announce that our new Ice Age Ponds app and website have been launched. The Free app will help guide you around 5 Ice Age Pond walks, or 3 cycle/ car routes and includes an Amphibian Guide, Aquatic Invertebrates Guide and Pond Plants Guide. You get lots of background information on the geology and ecology as you walk around the sites, and perhaps the chance to take a selfie with a mammoth or Irish Elk. To download the app just search “Ice Age Ponds” wherever you get your apps from, and you should see a picture of a mammoth.
If you would like to see what is on the app or visit these sites virtuality, you can also visit our new supporting website www.iceageponds.org. On here you can see all of the routes with photos, information and the ecological guides.
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.
