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Concern as historic pond remains a puddle despite rain

Sophie Parker,in Devizesand
Ben Prater,BBC Radio Wiltshire
BBC A view of the crammer: what looks to be a wide, shallow hole, an expanse of mud with a large puddle on the right. Dry, cracked mud surrounds it. On the left, a road and traditional red brick cottages. On the right, greenery and trees. To the top of the shot, some tree branches and leaves. BBC
The Crammer is hundreds of years old but has no water source aside from rain and road runoff

There is "sadness" and "concern" as a much-loved 300-year-old pond remains dry months after this summer's extreme heat.

The Crammer in Devizes has no natural or artificial water source, making it reliant on rain and road runoff.

Residents describe it as the "focal point" of the Wilshire town and say they are "sad" and "concerned" the water has not returned despite rain throughout September.

Councillor Iain Wallis said filling the pond with artificial water would be expensive and unlikely when there are hosepipe bans.

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Resident Lou Weaver said the much-loved pond is looking "very dire" and locals are waiting for more rain to refill it.

"It's always lovely to have the nice reflection of all the houses on the other side," she added.

Graeme Riley, who walks past it every day, said: "It's just sad really, it's the focal point of Devizes."

Lou Weaver smiles at the camera: she wears an orange turtle neck jumper and sunglasses with sparkly pink frames. Behind her is a very blurred view of the Crammer.
Lou Weaver knows the area well and said it is looking "dire"

Wallis said dredging had been discussed, but is "really complicated".

"We can't really make it deeper because of the make-up at the bottom of the Crammer, you would just end up with more water running away.

"Unfortunately, because it's fed by road runoff, the mud that's in there, the silt is classed as hazardous waste. So the cost of dredging it would be probably in the low hundreds of thousands of pounds, and it's not a one-off cost," he said.

Dredging would be "appropriate" every couple of decades but cannot be something they do regularly, he added.

The partially dried-out crammer in Devizes with some ducks floating on it with a road, trees and houses in the background.
The Crammer has been getting lower over the months, such as here pictured in August

Resident Marion Kearley said she was concerned about wildlife. She spotted a flight of geese preparing to land in the pond before noticing they needed another spot.

"Very, very sad. I hope it will come back. I think it will but it'll take some time because it's obviously got to soak into what's there now, all the mud, before it starts filling. So I think we'll want a lot of rain," she added.

The latest data shows this summer was the hottest on record. Figures for the months of June, July and August show that the average mean temperature - which includes day and overnight temperatures - was 16.5C, the warmest on record in a dataset going back to 1884.

Drought was declared in all of Wales and more than two-thirds of England and wildfires caused devastation in parts of the country.

In a rapid attribution study - which looks at how much of a role climate change plays - the Met Office say the average temperature was made around 130 times more likely due to human-induced climate change.

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