POTTERING ABOUT WITH JOHN LEACH

“Get the flora right and the fauna will come in”. John Leach’s advice has worked well in his own nature reserve.  In 1986 he bought nine acres from a neighbouring farmer in order to plant trees.  In 1988, just over 2.7 acres was planted and a pond dug with financial help from the Countryside Commission. Two years later he planted 3,500 native broad leaf trees and shrubs in the remaining 6.3 acres of land with the help of a Farm Woodland grant.

Within walking distance of his Muchelney pottery, the pond and wood are visited by John at least five evenings a week, usually for about three hours after work. The pond, with its island, is about an acre. The surrounding area of winding paths, shady trees and wildflower meadow, makes a total of  2.7 acres. The pond was dug out with a huge Hymac with a boom and bucket, the spoil being spread out by a bulldozer to form slopes and banks. The edges are wavy, with shallow margins and bays and the deepest part is nearly six feet. The base is pure clay as dug not puddled and there is no membrane.   

john_leachTo one side of the plot is a public footpath; on the other is Prior Brook, a sluggish rhyne whose water feeds the pond.  The Brook was dug as an irrigation ditch from the River Parrett by the medieval monks of Muchelney Abbey

As the saying goes, nature always fills a vacuum. John remembers, “The pond took several days to fill up. There was a little water at the bottom and suddenly the heron was there. The heron brought in fish in the form of eggs on its legs.  Eels, sticklebacks and pike came in from the ditch. The local thatcher, John Cox, brought seven rudd in a bucket – coarse, muddy fish, velvety black with red fins.  In the fourth year of the pond there was enough rotten vegetation for swans to build their massive nest on the island – they must have been flying overhead and spotted it.   This year there are two surviving cygnets; there are mallards with four ducklings and coot with several chicks, moorhens and often herons and kingfishers visiting. Occasionally there’s a cormorant”.

There have been various disasters. For example, the invasive fringe lily has had to be removed and more recently the guelder roses planted throughout the wood and beside the pond have suffered from insect attacks which leave them skeletal.  John also regrets planting too many poplars as they produce hundreds of suckers which have to be removed.

Apart from glimpses of the abundant wildlife – deer, foxes and badgers - John is particularly pleased with the bosky views from around the pond.  “People suggest I build a hide but I prefer not to have anything artificial here.” His walk passes the “Butterfly Crescent”, a delightful glade bordered by a semi-circle of buddlias.  There is a “squint” through the hedge into the rhyne beyond - the kingfisher’s flashing route to the pond.  He particularly loves the yellow flag irises and the insect-covered hemp agrimony. He parts some grass to show the purple toothwort, “little crowns like tiny rhubarb”, which was originally collected from Wayford Woods, Chard.

For maintenance, John uses his light scythe to remove nettles and once a week “ a woodman called Phil Bartlett” helps to manage the growing woodland. The paths through the wood and around the pond are mown by Richard England who owns neighbouring Thorney Lakes with its fishing ponds.

Looking across the pond as it sparkles in the sunshine with its colourful plant edging, flapping, ducking, preening birds and hovering dragonflies, John says “My art is inspired by this. I’m a witness to nature. I can’t imagine being in the desert of a city.”