The Pond Field was once a boggy grass field where cattle and sheep grazed. A millrace ran along the hedge-side into a millpond in front of the house. By the 1950’s, when the Burn family moved into Hunting Hall, the pond was dry and the sluice gate to the farm’s overshot watermill lay unused.

In 1984 when prices for corn were good James Burn drained the field, filled in the pond and ploughed up the grass to plant a crop. This was a commercial success, though a disaster for the wildlife that had lived in the old grass wetland. After the drainage work most of the field remained dry, apart from one area in the middle. Here water seeped out of underground springs and made the soil sodden, which was difficult for tractors to drive across and so they often became caught in the mud.

In 1992 Karen and Tom Burn, concerned about diminishing wildlife habitats on the farm, applied for a grant to create a pond in this boggy strip of land with broadleaved woodland on either side. Large open ditches were dug to take water to the new pond which was filled from the naturally occurring springs. Tom planted 600 trees (with a little family help!) which would thrive in wet ground. These were mostly alder and willow, but also included oak, birch, cherry and rowan.

In 2000 the children of Belford Wildlife Watch Group, led by Karen and Tom, become involved in the project. They planted a hedge to shelter the pond from the wind and planted flowering and fruiting shrubs to attract wildlife. The children built and put up bird and bat boxes in the now established trees and wove a willow hide from which they could watch the pond wildlife. They also helped to reduce the amount of pondweed on the surface of the water by raking it away.

The area changed considerably and many plants animals and birds have been spotted in this new habitat: marsh marigold, lady’s smock, long tailed tits, roe deer, moorhens, heron, barn owls, hares, rabbits, toads, frogs and badgers.

Belford Wildlife Watch Group’s project "Pond Quandary – How can a boggy area of field become a haven for wildlife?" was very successful and earned the group a certificate of merit in the "Blake Shield's Ward Cup Competition"