Waterhouse Pond

L3 Day 75 Another cold, grey damp day so only a quick cycle ride to a Bushy Park and a walk in the Waterhouse Plantation part of the Woodland Gardens, the larger of the two fenced off areas. The blip is the Waterhouse Pond which is fed from the Longford River. The area was open parkland until 1823 when part was enclosed to protect a new plantation of oak trees from the deer. The Waterhouse Woodland Gardens Walk was developed in 1925 and then further developed by the Park Superintendent Joseph Fisher in 1947. His plantings included many rhododendrons, and also smaller azaleas by the waterside at Fisher’s Pond. A lot of work has been going on there recently.......many of the rhododendrons have been removed to improve biodiversity, Fisher’s pond has been cleared and the old azaleas removed. It looks as though several large trees have been felled and there was a bonfire there today. Also lots of daffodils, camellias and wildlife including rabbits, squirrels, parakeets and various water birds.