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No. 5 - LITTLEWELLS
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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.
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The Dragonfly Ponds
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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!
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