Just a short walk down a gravel drive, just behind the High Street in Godstone, lies Bay Pond Nature Reserve, one of three educational reserves now managed by Surrey Wildlife Trust. As such, the reserve is normally closed to the public apart from the regular open days in Spring, Summer, and Autumn. At other times access is restricted and by special arrangement only with the Trust. General viewing is possible from the public footpaths which adjoin the northern and southern boundaries of the site.  The Trust has owned Bay Pond since 1965 and, although it is well known to locals, Bay Pond is one of the village’s best kept secrets. Originally constructed in 1611 as a power source for a local gunpowder mill at nearby Leigh Mill, Bay Pond is now a jewel of a nature reserve containing a rich diversity of wildlife.

For anyone who is a stranger to Bay Pond, let us take you on a brief tour of the reserve. At the end of the drive visitors will come to the education centre. These buildings used to house cow byres and a stable block in the days when there was a dairy farm on the site. Now they have been converted into a classroom and information centre. Opposite is the barn, where visiting school children and teachers are made welcome at the beginning of their journey of discovery through Bay Pond’s wonderful wildlife habitats. 

Looking towards Education Centre

Super senses

In a world that is becoming increasingly desensitised by technology, Bay Pond allows our visitors to experience the natural world using all their senses. A special sensory garden has been planted next to the barn. Here you can enjoy the smells and texture of herbs and other plants such as fennel, lavender, lamb’s ear and orange blossom. Nearby, in the butterfly walk, colourful and highly scented plants like buddleia, mallow and honeysuckle are a magnet for butterflies and other nectar loving insects. Sensory stimulation is a key part of our education work. All of Bay Pond’s habitats are used to bring children into close contact with wildlife. 

Flower Power and Marvellous Minibeasts

Walking out into the reserve visitors enter the open space of COVELLY FIELD. In the past, this was the grazing meadow attached to the old dairy. It is now managed as a wildflower meadow and supports a wealth of wild grasses and meadow flowers. The meadow is an ideal place to introduce children to the important part that plants play in our lives. They are encouraged to look closely at how plants grow, the part flowers play in a plant’s life cycle and how seeds are formed and dispersed. On a sunny summer’s day, the field is alive with insects attracted by the flowers and grasses. Children learn about the lives of these colourful and strange looking creatures by going on a minibeast hunt, a very popular activity that teaches children how to identify and handle small animals. 

Close Encounters of the Pond Kind

There is an active and flourishing local group which holds regular lectures at the White Hart Barn and organises other events throughout Tandridge.  Details of our programme will be updated regularly on this website, all are welcome, members or not.  We can also offer lots of volunteering opportunities, whether by joining one of our work parties that maintain Bay Pond or taking an active part in the events that we put on for the benefit of the whole community with wildlife in mind.

Contact with the local group can be made through David Starkey, Chairman Surrey Wildlife

Graeme Hendry Wood 
also owned by Surrey Wildlife