Anyone with an interest in wildlife, history or engineering will not want to miss a rare opportunity to see traditional horse power in action.
A heavy horse is being put to work at Hare Hill in Over Alderley to help clear up three ponds which have become filled with debris and sludge.
Bosses at the National Trust are hoping the horse can carry out the essential work without disrupting the protected endangered habitats which provide the densest pond landscape in lowland Britain and are home to many species, including newts, pond skaters, frogs and water boatman.
Emma Hill, head gardener, said: “Three years ago, our pond at North Park View was dredged. While it significantly improved the water quality and wildlife environment, the use of diggers resulted in some damage to the surrounding landscape.
“The three other woodland ponds present a brand new call to action. “So we’re embarking on our most challenging project yet – to clear the ponds using horse power.”
An experienced horse logging team from Cumbria, led by Simon Lenihan, will use equipment specially designed in Sweden to dredge the ponds, with the debris turned into mulch for the garden.
Simon will be trialling the horse and equipment over two days on August 25 and 26, when visitors will be welcome to watch.
Emma added: “We are very excited to be involved in this project, which has a very low physical footprint and is a first for Simon’s team.
“It’s also a unique opportunity for visitors to see our conservation work in action and close up.
“We hope that a fundraising campaign will enable us to complete the main part of the pond dredging work in 2017.”
You can see the dredging between 10am and 5pm. For more details, visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hare-hill .
