Keasden Moor Pond

Maureen Ellis
 North Craven 
 Heritage Trust 

From Keasden cross roads there is an area of land bounded by the Slaidburn road and the Bentham road which is a Triple SSSI, which means that it has interesting flowers and also a variety of habitats of a high value to wildlife. Some thirty odd years ago there was a pond in this triangle of land which was large enough to skate on, the area of moorland is known locally as Shar wife and originally there was another smaller pond, little Shar wife. The oblong stretch of water highly recognisable as a pond gradually became overtaken by a variegated form of reed canary-grass Phalaris arundinacea of garden origin which is incredibly invasive. From the road, it was seen that the pond appeared just as a light green smudge.

On Saturday 3 September 2005 heavy duty work began. All that could be seen in the slight hollow of moorland at 10.a.m were eleven heads and above them on the moor a pick-up truck and a man loading vegetation onto a pallet. As I got nearer there was no water to be seen but already, great tussocks of Phalaris were forming a mound on a pallet. John Osborne of English Nature explained to me that over the weekend as much Phalaris as possible would be removed and taken to ‘Growing with Grace’, who had agreed to compost it. As it is a Triple SSSI great care had to taken. As the weekend progressed there was no let up in the energetic work. Bit by bit water was revealed and by late Sunday afternoon Keasden moor once again had a pond.

The background to this activity was that English Nature had enlisted the help of the British Trust of Conservation Volunteers ( BTCV ). The latter is based in the stables of Elizabethean Kiplin Hall, near Catterick and it is through their very helpful secretary Anne Purbrick that I was sent some photos taken by the volunteers. It was by the newsletter of the Craven Conservation Group that I knew the date of the clearing.

It maybe asked why a small pond on the moors is important? It provides diverse habitats for species and gives variety to an area; amphibians are becoming scarce and certain birds are water-dependent and use reeds as a shelter and a pond is a food provider for some of them. The other interesting question is how an alien vegetation occurs. There can be deliberate introduction in the belief this is giving variety, or dumping of unwanted plants. It is possible that the age-old theory that birds’ feet could carry viable vegetation does happen or maybe bird droppings could carry seeds which germinate.