No. 5 - LITTLEWELLS

The field in front of you is called Littlewells - until about 40 years ago it contained a small well - and it has always been a wet, difficult field to farm (my Grandfather tried, unsuccessfully, to drain it in the 1960s and we tried twice, in 1979 and in 1996; both unsuccessful!).

So, in 2007, rather than keep trying to beat nature, we decided to work with her and, with some help from our Environmental Stewardship agreement, turn Littlewells into what she wanted to be - 5 acres of ponds and wetlands.

The Dragonfly Ponds

The ponds have been designed (by a Natural England dragonfly expert) with various shapes and profiles, to encourage as wide a range of dragon and damselflies as possible; particularly our most threatened species the Norfolk Hawker. The pond margins have been planted/sown with the same end in mind; some of the wonderfully named plants are purple loosestrife, flowering rush, yellow flag and nipplewort.

Wet Lowland is one of Britain's most severely depleted habitats; so we expect Littlewells to quickly become colonized by a wide range of species that love these conditions - we had our first Frog, Toad and Newt spawn in Spring 2009, many water living insects (Water Boatmen etc) have been quick to arrive and we were very excited when two pairs of Lapwings nested here in 2008, and in 2009. Snipe and other waders also visit, to feed.

The area between the ponds has been sown to a wetland mixture of tussocky grasses and wildflowers.

And don't be alarmed if you hear a burst of gunfire whilst you're walking round, the Army use the range behind the wood to your right (north) for small arms training. You are NOT in danger!