Did you really think that Coy Pond had an exotic creature, lurking in its depths?
By prior arrangement with Bishop St Aldhelm’s School, a select hand-picked group of a dozen or so pupils, accompanied by two teachers arrived this morning for a tour of the pond and the rockery. The tour guide was David, Volunteer Gardener and inspiration for the five named gardens around the pond, if not responsible for all the hard work that had been put into their making.
The group assembled on the gravel area in front of the pond having read the details in the council’s map. And the Friends of Coy Pond notices: the ‘Plant of the week’ was geranium.
The group had pretty much all been to Coy Pond before. So, ‘What did the name ‘Coy’ mean?’ One bright lad came up with a sort of fish. David had groups of grown ups come up with this canard. Not that the Japanese carp (‘Koi’) couldn’t spell. But ‘Coy’ was short for ‘decoy’. A stretch of water engineered to attract wildfowl, so Victorian gentlemen could shoot them. We have made some progress since then; with a greater emphasis on conservation than slaughter.
All then moved on to the shorter end of the path round the pond, and to the ‘Stumpery’ on one side, ‘Tropical Garden’ on the other. Explanation of what a ‘Stumpery’ is, written in such simple language even grown ups can understand. Though outdated, since Prince Charles’ Stumpery is now the King’s. Down the steep gravel path and steps, past the new shoots of the banana, and the pond’s bank and bog garden. The huge gunnera was a hit. ‘Is it a tree or a shrub?’. Not a tree, for it dies each winter, and comes back in the spring. ‘A perennial’, a teacher helpfully added.
Past the ‘Flowery Dell’, where the knowledge of rhyming slang was tested, past the original Bug Hotel and Winter Garden, when we all met with Julian, head of the Heavy Mob in the garden volunteer hierarchy, spade in hand. One lad allowed to have a go, removing a clump of grass from the path. Soon an enthusiastic queue, all wanting their turn to weed the path. Thoughts turned to Tom Sawyer, turning the fence whitewashing chore into a privilege for which his chums were anxious to achieve.
Along the straight stretch past ‘Spring Garden’, and the feeding place for the ducks, where waddling pigeons were hoovering up the wildfowl food. David threatened, if the children were not good, he would sing ‘Poisoning Pigeons in the Park’. Fortunately, a very well-behaved group. Safely across the road, and a walk along the 180-metre length of the rockery. Checking out a variety of Bug Hotels along the way. Then across the Japanese bridge, and back on the other side. A teacher had stopped to talk to Sandy, a volunteer weeding the log-line beds on either side of the bridge, and got the story of Bourne Stream flooding and carrying away the logs. Past the two new Black Poplar, with the last ‘story’ for the children to carry back to their school
