Ridley's Pond

Ridley's Pond sits at the northernmost tip of the Common, collecting water from the springs that emerge all along the north facing slope of the valley where the sandstone ridge meets the Wealden clay. Its named after Philip Ridley one time chairman on the Commons Society. Sadly the pond is now rather overcast by trees and starting to silt up at one end. It no longer seems to be frequented by kingfishers and there were very few dragonflies here last year. I hope that later in the year we might organise a working party to set about restoring it. Today it had a layer of thin ice across the surface, broken a few seconds after I took the photograph by a certain spaniel who cannot resist water in any form.