Aldbourne Village Pond

Aldbourne picture postcard village

What was the pond used for? Well according to Ida Gandy horses used to drink there before going to graze in a nearby meadow. In the past the village had a lot of horses but even so the pond was far too big for that. A horse trough would have done the job, especially one close to the nearby village pump. So what was it for? People used to bathe in it, especially when they needed to wash off the blood after a backswording or boxing match (probably bare knuckle) especially at the time of the village feast. At some point the bottom was painted sky blue on the orders of the parish council, a surprising thing to do and probably technically incredibly difficult. What do you do with the water? Ida Gandy maintains the pond lost its water supply in 1953, after which it was never the same again.

The Aldbourne pond appears to be a dew pond (it looks like pictures of a dew pond). A Brind, Mary Jane (1858-1937) married the last of a long line of dew pond makers, William Walker. We don't know if William Walker had anything to do with the Aldbourne Pond but we do know he is buried with Mary Jane in Aldbourne Cemetery. (24/July/2014).

Aldbourne picture postcard village