Never before had so many green wellies come together in one place – the duck pond on Saturday July 23rd was the focus as pair after pair brought their owners from not far but certainly wide all armed with fiercesome implements such as yard brooms, rakes and shovels. Was it the assembly of the old Home Guard? Sadly no. Merely the villagers aroused to a call to assist, sent out by Beverly Hardman with the object of cleaning the pond. The most effective weapon turned out to be a sludge pump thoughtfully provided by someone who knows a thing or two about ‘sludge’. By eleven the fish were safe in large tanks, the ducks confined to barracks and the pond drained. In the first stages a gully was revealed and on investigation and a certain amount of grimy grovelling the children found all manner of goodies concealed within the last of the gooie slurrie. Marbles, coins – no teeth were uncovered but Tom Woodall recovered a fifty pence piece which he had cunningly encouraged a friend to skim across the pond a week or two previously with future salvage in mind! Small pyramids of stones were built on the concrete bottom to add interest to the navigation of the carp, who must be frightfully bored just to swim around a hazard-free pond all day. Joe arrived with trays of coffee – packed lunches and biscuits were eaten with grubby hands (to date no typhoid has been reported to our team of Doctors) and that was that. Everyone went home leaving the pond to refill naturally which it obligingly did by the following morning.

By this time the old hands of the viilage had re-appeared from behind their net curtains to investigate and comment. “Not like we used to do. Why there’s been no repair to the concrete, and all these piles of stones – why they be silly! To much of a hurry. Thats whats wrong with folks today. Why in my day……..”.

Despite the criticism the pond is again wholesome and the Heron can once again see the fish and the puddle ducks will be able to find Tom Kitten’s clothing.