Sunday, 19th October 2025: litterpicking and working on Adel Woods Pond with Joe Craig-Jackson

Today we had a fantastic turn out of seventeen volunteers – seven for litterpicking and ten to work with our local Parks and Countryside ranger, Joe Craig-Jackson, on Adel Pond.

Adel Woods Pond

Adel Woods pond is an important habitat for frogs, newts, dragonflies and other invertebrates and every Autumn Friends of Adel Woods work with our local ranger to dredge silt from the pond.

However, as can be seen from the photograph above, the pond has had a difficult year. It is fed by a ditch on the north side, and water flows out via a sluice gate in the southern bank. Unfortunately, a leak developed in the sluice gate about a year ago, and the situation was exacerbated because very little water has flowed into the pond over the very dry summer: a month ago it was possible to walk to the middle of the pond without getting wet feet!

We made our way to the pond and, having outlined our aims for the morning, Joe tested the depth of the water with a stick. There was little water in the northern half of the pond, but with the recent rain the ground had turned to mud. There was a foot or more of water in the southern half of the pond.

One of the things that surprises us each Autumn is the number of sticks, branches, logs and large stones which end up in the pond. Each year we remove them, but each year we find a lot more have arrived. Some of the sticks and branches must fall in from the neighbouring trees, but some of them -and the logs and the large stones – must be thrown in by passers-by for a lark.

The first job was therefore to remove all logs, branches and stones. In addition to the many to be seen lying on the mud, in the southern half of the pond there were many more concealed under the surface of the water.

The second job was to clear the ditch feeing the pond and to dig as much mud as possible from the pond, load it into buckets and dispose of it well away from the pond.

Our third task was to clear all the vegetation and mud from around the leaking sluice gate so that we could see work out what needs to be done to repair the leak.

We had a very successful couple of hours work as can be seen by comparing the photograph below with the photograph at the beginning of this post.

Litterpicking

Seven of our Friends picked up litter today.

Starting from our meeting point on Buckstone Road, they picked up litter on the recreation ground, along Crag Lane, around Adel Crag, the Stairfoot Lane carpark and Alwoodley Plantation. In addition to the normal bottles, cans, paper litter, and bags of dog poo, they found two lots of flytipping – a bag of clothes and a table football table.

Join Friends of Adel Woods!

We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our activities and would be delighted if you would like to join us.

Friends of Adel Woods were formed in 2009 to help maintain Adel Woods and encourage people to enjoy them. We meet one weekend morning a month to carry out various jobs or ”work parties”, and we also put on educational events such as bat walks, fungal forays and birdsong walks.

We are a very friendly group and welcome new members who want to help preserve our special woods, enjoy fresh air and exercise in the woods, and make new friends. 

If you would like to take part in our activities, keep an eye on our Home Page. You don’t need to book to come along to one of our work “parties”: just come along.

If you would like to join our email mailing list, please get in touch by leaving a comment on this website – you should be able to see a comment button at the bottom of this page.