Table of Contents
** Latest news
**
🐸 Bishop's Pond, Fordingbridge
Damerham Fair
We will have a stall at Damerham Fair on Saturday 25th July 2026. As well as the craft and trade stalls and events in the arena, there will be the Damerham & District Horticultural Society's Summer Show. There will be a free bus service from Fordingbridge via the Railway Hotel and Sandleheath. If you are visiting, please drop by our stall (c. 11 am to 4 pm) to see what we are doing and have a chat.
🌿 🐞 The next working session is on $[hdcolor $\brown$\$]Sunday 26th July$[/hdcolor$] from $[hdcolor $\brown$\$]2 pm to 4 pm$[/hdcolor$] 🦋 🌿
We meet to carry out conservation work at Bishop's Pond three times per month, on a Monday, a Saturday and a Sunday as listed below. All sessions start at 2 p.m. and last two hours. Sometimes a session is cancelled at short notice if the weather conditions or forecast are unsuitable. The traffic light on the left indicates whether the next session will go ahead – $[hdcolor $\green$\$]green$[/hdcolor$] means OK (unless the forecast changes), $[hdcolor $\orange$\$]amber$[/hdcolor$] means we're considering cancellation, and $[hdcolor $\red$\$]red$[/hdcolor$] means the session has been cancelled.
Everyone — including you — is very welcome to come along to help us (no skills are required), or just to find out what we do and have a look round to see how the conservation work at the site is progressing.
** July **
Sunday 26th
** August **
Monday 3rd
Saturday 15th
Sunday 23rd
** September **
Monday 7th
Saturday 19th
Sunday 27th
** October **
Monday 5th
Saturday 17th
Sunday 25th
You can find us:
- from Normandy Way: enter Cottage Mews (the pond is then on the left, opposite no. 1 Cottage Mews on the right; there is parking in front of the long wall ahead of you) and go through the gate in the hedge on the left, between the street lamp and the car ports outside no. 12, or
- from Green Lane (on foot or by bike; no access by car): follow the gravel track which branches off just west of the bridge over Sweatford's Water, go through the gate into Cottage Mews and then through the gate in the hedge on the right, after the car ports outside no. 12 and before the street lamp.
If you use your phone or sat-nav to find us, the postcode is SP6 1RJ. If you like What3Words, go to ///fingernails.paving.roughest (which is also a reminder to wear gloves and stout shoes!)
We are required to keep the gate into the Pond area locked for safety reasons, except during working sessions.
News
15 Feb 2025: Shrimps at Bishop's Pond
Not actually in the pond, but under logs, these are not the familiar seawater shrimps, or even the freshwater “shrimp” (Gammarus). Like the Gammarus and the sandhoppers (Talitrus) found in heaps of rotting seaweed on beaches, these are amphipod crustaceans. The ones we found today might be Arcitalitrus dorrieni, the Landhopper, Woodhopper or Lawn Shrimp, or perhaps Cryptorchestia garbinii. You can see a photo and more information at https://bmig.org.uk/species/arcitalitrus-dorrieni.
15 Jun 2024: Insects and flowers
We are continuing to discover and sometimes identify lots of new wildflower and insect species at the Pond. Here is a Digger Wasp (a species of Ectemnius, possibly E. lituratus) spotted by Ian. Digger wasps are solitary wasps which do not make communal nests. At the previous meeting on 3rd June there was a 14-spot ladybird, which I've never seen before. It rejoices in the Latin name of Propylea quattuordecimpunctata, which you may (or may not) recognise as referring to its 14 spots.
26 May 2024: Flowers and insects
The bluebells have all but finished, but the Red Campion is out, along with other species. The following were spotted today, amongst other kinds too numerous to mention. The Pyramidal orchid has not only survived, it is now producing two flower spikes in place of the one last year.
08 Apr 2024: Turning green
Vegetation is growing rapidly around (and in!) Bishop's Pond. Here's a speedwell, probably Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys).
04 Mar 2024: Spring colours
Although we did not have a full working session on 4th March, a couple of us had a look around the site before the rain began. The snowdrops are going to seed but the wild daffodils are making a splendid display, although some unknown culprit has been chewing many of the trumpets. Lungwort (Pulmonaria) is in flower, ready to supply nectar to feed the queen bumblebees when they emerge from their winter quarters. Many other species of plants are showing signs of growth, promising more colour later in Spring.
Some unexpected splashes of colour right now were provided by several clumps of the Scarlet Elf-cup fungus (Sarcoscypha coccinea) on dead branches lying on the ground among the ivy.
Further information
- Here is a booklet by Graham Long with details of the history from medieval times as well as recent activities at the pond
- Bishop's Pond is a Site of Interest for Nature Conservation (SINC). See Status of Bishop's Pond for more details.
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- Newspaper and magazine articles:
- Built a hibernaculum! (from Ringwood and Fordingbridge News, issue 843, 19 October 2022, page 16)
- Fordingbridge Focus Magazine, Sept/Oct 2022, p.34.
- Bishop's Pond full from end to end and is bursting with life (from Ringwood and Fordingbridge News, 17 March 2021, page 6)
- Plans to transform Bishop's Pond: Salisbury Journal, 18 November 2017
- Formation of the current group: Salisbury Journal, 4 August 2009, including a photo with the late Rev. Graham Long and Peter Tullett, founders of the group