Best hoof forward

Staff at Hare Hill are welcoming two new team members over the next month, tasked with drastically improving biodiversity through a unique project funded entirely by generous donations.

Jasper and Bolero, North Swedish Stallions, are being drafted in to carry out the work at the National Trust attraction using a dredging technique new to the UK.

From Monday 25 June until Tuesday 24 July, the ponds within the Cheshire gardens will be cleared of silt and algae to help the wildlife flourish.

In the past 150 years, six in ten Cheshire ponds have disappeared with many in a very poor state. Ponds play a crucial role in providing a home and feeding ground for a wide range of wildlife helping drainage and preventing flooding during periods of heavy rain.

The ornamental ponds at Hare Hill have the potential to be a wonderful home for a range of wildlife including great crested newts, dragonflies and damselflies and to have an impact on the habitats of birds and bats.

Treating the problem isn’t straightforward at Hare Hill as it’s impossible to use the standard heavy machinery required for dredging. Not only does the terrain and large trees make it physically impossible to get the machinery in, the sensitive historic nature of the site also means that this could do irreparable damage.

Head Gardener, Emma Hill, says: “We’re thrilled to be starting the project which will drastically improve wildlife here at Hare Hill. Over the years we have carried out small scale interventions where we could, but it has felt more like a sticking plaster on the problem rather than a longer-term solution. The silt has now reached a stage where it needs to be cleared urgently to avoid long term damage to biodiversity or putting the garden at an unacceptably high risk of flood damage. This is something man-power alone simply can’t do and we’re excited to have found an ecological solution.”

In summer 2016 a new approach to dredging was tested at Hare Hill, kick-starting the work now taking place. Rosco, a Belgian Ardennes stallion from Cumbria was placed on a short-term secondment from his day job from Ecological Logging and was drafted in to help dredge one of the ponds at Hare Hill. Little did Rosco know that he was at the forefront of a new technological breakthrough. Using his mighty strength, Rosco pulled a specially designed cage, known as a ‘shuttle,’ through the water which caught the silt as it travelled. The trial was successful in removing an overwhelming amount of silt, improving the water quality and wildlife habitat overnight, whilst causing minimal damage to the ponds, paths and wider garden.

Emma says: “We were delighted with the trials and we loved being able to share the unique project with our visitors who came to watch Rosco at work. We knew we’d found a solution, but work like this is costly and we were now faced with another dilemma; how were we going to fund it?”

In 2017 a campaign was launched to raise £25,000 which would fund two working horses for the garden team at Hare Hill to dredge the three remaining ponds. Thanks to kind and generous donations from our visitors and the public the full amount was raised.  The project has been funded by a combination of large and small gifts, primarily from local people and visitors. Members of the public have made donations at Hare Hill in person, given funds online, purchased raffle tickets at the garden, left gifts in their Wills, and there were also several gifts from groups and organisations. The work is now set to take place over the next month with members of the public encouraged to visit the property to watch the horses live in action.

Simon Lenihan, from Ecological Logging in Cumbria says: “This is the first time our heavy horses have been used in this way. I’m looking forward to working alongside them to harness their logging experience to help with a different aspect of wildlife conservation at the National Trust attraction.  Sadly, Rosco won’t be joining us due to his retirement last year, but he’s handed-over the reins to Jasper and Bolero who are chomping at the bit to get started.”

Once the dredging is complete plants will be introduced to recreate the ornamental design originally intended by Colonel Brocklehurst, the original owner. This will also give biodiversity a kick-start by attracting the variety of wildlife required for a healthy pond habitat. Whilst the funds for the  dredging work has been raised, the team at Hare Hill are continuing to fundraise for the next phase of pond restoration, which will include landscaping the pond edges and replanting them with the kinds of ornamental plants from the original James Russell design.

Emma says: “People can visit and see this trailblazing conservation work in action, and find out about the wildlife that thrives in a healthy pond.  We’re excited to see the results of the project at Hare Hill and the wider positive impacts on biodiversity at places where this technique could be used to solve similar problems.’

The dredging team will be starting on Monday 25th June, with work continuing every day until Tuesday 24th July. Donations to the project are welcome and can be made at Hare Hill, online or by purchasing a raffle ticket at the National Trust attraction to fund the restoration works.

For further details, please visit: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/appeal/hare-hill-pond-dredging-project-appeal