{"id":11482,"date":"2023-10-30T10:05:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T10:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/?p=11482"},"modified":"2023-10-30T10:05:00","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T10:05:00","slug":"ghost-ponds-bringing-the-past-back-to-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/ghost-ponds-bringing-the-past-back-to-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Ghost ponds – bringing the past back to life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you live or work on a farm, chances are there\u2019s a pond on it somewhere. But if there isn\u2019t, there\u2019s probably a ghost pond, waiting to be brought back to life. Breathing life back into your dead pool can have enormous benefits for your farm and for the environment in general. Here\u2019s our quick guide to ghost ponds, with some tips on how to resurrect them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are ghost ponds?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ghost ponds are old bodies of water that have been filled in or covered up by human activities or natural processes. During the post-war period, government incentivised farmers to maximise outputs and increase their area of farmed land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This often resulted in the incorporation of marginal land, including natural habitat pockets, into the expanding agricultural landscape. Consequently, hedgerows, coppices, and ponds all declined. Since the turn of the 20th<\/sup> century, Natural England estimates that the number of ponds in the UK has declined by 50%, down from one million in 1900<\/a>. Defra, however, suggests that this could be as much as 70%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summoning your ghost pond<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ghost ponds tend to leave tell-tale scars on the landscape. The material used by farmers to fill in their pools, meres and lakes was frequently of a different soil type to its surrounding area, giving it a subtly different appearance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, you may be able to spot your phantom pool by noticing a small depression in the land. In addition, they tend to have soil that is damp or soggy, due to the presence of a natural spring that fed them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you have identified a probable site, you can confirm its position by assessing historic survey maps<\/a> and comparing them to the current landscape. Additionally, you can confirm the site by assessing the soils you remove. Most probably, you will find the old pond\u2019s sediment, which will have a tell-tale dark appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Historic<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The case for reinstating farmland ghost ponds<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Small, standing bodies of water are a useful tool for helping tackle greenhouse gas emissions. They do this by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n