Queensmere, the Victorian pond by the Windmill on Wimbledon Common, has reopened, and the silted concrete pool many will remember has gone.
In its place is a living wildlife pond, with natural banks, a new reedbed, an island for ducks and geese, and a wooden deck that lets you stand out over the water. With temperatures set to climb toward the mid-30s this week, it is also about the coolest, greenest spot in Putney to spend an hour.
The Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators, the body that runs the Commons, led the 18-month restoration, working with specialist contractor Aquamaintain. The work cost £150,000, most of it from the Mayor of London’s Rewild London Fund, in partnership with the London Wildlife Trust. We followed the work in January, when the pond was a drained, silted hollow.
- Silted, concrete-banked pool
- Water gone murky and poor
- More than half in deep shade
- Nowhere for wildlife to shelter
- Natural, replanted banks
- A 120 sq m reedbed filtering the water
- An island for ducks and geese
- A viewing deck over the water
It had been in trouble for years. Built in 1887 for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, and once a spot for bathing and boating, Queensmere had silted up, its water had turned poor, and more than half of it sat in deep shade under overgrown trees. Its concrete banks gave wildlife nowhere to shelter.
The fix was substantial. Crews thinned the trees, drained the pond and rescued its fish, then dug out decades of silt and used it to reshape the banks and build the island. They laid a 120 sq m reedbed at the inlet to filter the water, and reprofiled the hard banks with coconut-fibre rolls seeded with native wildflowers. While they were digging, they uncovered something nobody expected: the outline of a Victorian walled bathing area, hidden in the mud for generations.
The wildlife has not waited. Toads were back at the water’s edge in February, and herons, mandarin ducks and dragonflies are already using the new banks and island.
The Conservators marked the reopening with a small celebration at the pond this week. The Chairman of the Conservators, Mauro Mattiuzzo, and Emma Edgell from the Mayor of London’s office spoke, Deputy Chair Sue Bucknall unveiled a new information lectern carrying artwork by local artist Susan Bunn, and children from the Roehampton Church Forest School sang a song they had written about the pond, “We will Croak You”.
- WhereNear the Windmill and the Windmill car park, Wimbledon Common.
- What’s openThe new viewing deck and a dog ramp at the water’s edge.
- Dog beach: closed until 1 SeptemberBirds are nesting. Keep dogs under control around the pond until then.
- Join inRest your phone on a fixed photo post, take the same view each visit, and share it tagged #WPCponds.
- When to goThis week. Hot and largely dry, into the mid-30s on Tuesday and Wednesday, and cool under the trees.
Before you go
Queensmere sits near the Windmill and the Windmill car park. The new deck and a dog ramp are open, but the dog beach stays shut until 1 September, because birds are nesting, and dogs must be kept under control around the water until then. What dog walkers should know on the Commons changes through the year.
There is one easy way to join in. Fixed photo posts at the pond let you rest your phone on a cradle, take the same view each visit, and share it tagged #WPCponds, slowly building a record of how the pond changes with the seasons.
More is still to come, including commemorative benches and nesting boxes for mandarin ducks. For now, the pond is open, the weather is good, and it is worth the walk. Go and have a look this week. The Conservators’ Queensmere page has the full story of the works.
The regeneration of the Queensmere Pond is an inspiring story that demonstrates what can be done when the community works together with targeted support from government.
This is in stark contrast to the lake in Wimbledon Park, which is a haven for the fishing club locally. The picture below shows a 26lb carp caught in this lake, an example of the mature wildlife on our doorstep now under threat from the highly controversial plans by AELTC to redevelop Wimbledon Park. The fishing club say the plans may damage the ecosystem of the water, possibly killing many of the fish with their plans to dredge the lake and build what they call a boardwalk viewing platform. Many except that the lake needs attention, but have the plans been thought through properly?
The Wimbledon Park lake supports an impressive diversity of wildlife, even though the murky water doesn’t look like a beautiful chocolate box illustration. Will the development impact allow the rewilding of the lake that everybody is so keen to see?