Byron's Pool

Byron's Pool, near Cambridge, is named after the poet, Lord Byron, who is believed to have enjoyed swimming here while studying at Trinity College. The area is marked on old maps as "Old Mills" and may well have been the site of the mill mentioned in Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales". More recently it was where we rode our bicycles as children and  as teenagers ventured on our punt.

The pool where Byron swam

Nowadays it's managed as a local nature reserve and has recently undergone a major make-over. Since I've known and loved the area for so long I was concerned at what might have been done; I've seen lots of good habitat destroyed in attempts to make reserves more user-friendly - where the "user" is the human visitor rather than the wildlife.

I needn't have worried. Given that the purpose of a local nature reserve is to serve many different requirements there seems to be an admirable balance achieved. Picnic tables are situated in a flowery meadow near to the entrance to the woodland which runs alongside the River Cam.

Platforms have been built for the anglers but they also make excellent vantage points to view the river - dragonflies were in abundance and a kingfisher flashed by.

The fish-run

A fish-run has been constructed so that fish can by-pass the weir which used to block their way upstream, it already has produced an increase in fish in the upper river and despite the amount of earth-moving that was required the vegetation is rapidly returning.

The path, once uneven and muddy enough to make an exciting track for our bikes, is now accessible to wheelchair-users but elsewhere the woodland retains its wild nature. You could still make a bit of a bike track and it looks as though some of the local lads have done just that!

The wildlife doesn't seem to have been frightened away by the work that's been going on and I was pleased to come across the nest of wild honeybees in a fallen tree. 

Take care.