When we first found the pond, we weren't sure whether to be delighted to discover another great wildlife site or annoyed at all the rubbish, which included curtains, power tools, roofing sheets and of course the odd fridge.

But clean it out we had to.... Friends and neighbours lent muscle power, and over a weekend we filled a skip and stacked our old stables with metal. There's still work to do, but it's coming along. Already the damselflies are thriving. This is an azure damselfly perched on a grass stem.

Our local scrap metal dealer has come to take away the metal we pulled out of an old farm pond. This lot goes down to Avonmouth, then is shipped to Italy where apparently it's re-used in washing machines.