Forbes Field Pond

When we started planning the development of Forbes Field, the idea of creating one or more winter wet areas came up. These are designed as habitats for animal life, not least for visiting birds. We were prompted in this regard by the late Diana Forbes, who wrote about the field flooding in winter, observing: "When the rainfall is good in the winter, springs arise at the foot of the slopes.  The ground gets boggy and small pools appear which never freeze and are enjoyed by winter visiting Fieldfares and Redwings as well as our native Blackbirds and Thrushes, especially when there is a hard frost over the land.  The ponies enjoy paddling and drinking in them too.  The water runs out through a drain and under the road".  During the recent wet weather we’ve witnessed the field flooding and a number of pools appearing, and seen a good number of Fieldfares as well as Blackbirds. Exactly as Diana Forbes stated, the pools didn’t freeze over even in a hard frost of – 6 degrees Celsius. On advice from the Cranborne Chase AONB we are now studying how to manage the winter flooding better in an effort to maintain the winter wet areas for as long as possible, and, if possible, to hold back excess water from flooding into The Street at the junction with Hops Close.

28 January 2023

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