Spurred on.

When we moved here sixteen years ago, the field behind our house had a huge flooded area, a natural pond, in fact, which we loved, because a pair of mute swans regularly swam on the water and did their magical ballet dance, culminating in the part where their necks meet and form a heart shape. That first winter, I took several photographs of the swans and managed to capture one of the heart shape, only to discover later, that in my haste I had forgotten to put a film in the camera.

Imagine how sad we were the following Spring to see the farmer, whose field it was, begin the first of several attempts to drain the pond. I'd read many reports, about the loss of pond habitat, in various wildlife magazines over the years, and now felt more determined than ever to create our ponds.

The craters the JCB left behind were basically large holes. A great deal of dedicated, hard work was needed if they were to be transformed into garden ponds, suitable enough to sustain wildlife.