A DRIED-up pond which once provided an important watering hole for livestock travelling on an ancient drovers’ road has been restored to its former glory.  

The pond at Clawddnewydd stands alongside the village pub, the Glan Llyn, and once again has water lapping at its edges thanks to a £26,500 makeover.

This was paid for by rural regeneration agency Cadwyn Clwyd’s Green Communities Project, which is funded by the EU and Welsh Government Rural Communities Rural Development Programme.

The scheme has been praised by Darren Millar, MS for Clwyd West, who said: “Whenever I come to Clawddnewydd I’m always impressed by the community spirit here.

“One of the things that always amazes me is how you get together as a community and do things because it doesn’t happen everywhere – you have a magic quality here.

“I haven’t seen a project as inspirational for a long time because you have transformed a tired piece of land in the middle of the village into something you can enjoy and be proud of.

“I’m sure it will be a hive of activity here this summer and will be full of wildlife.”

The presence of the pond, fed by a natural spring, probably explains the existence of both the inn and the village which grew up around the resting place for the cattle drovers.

But as the spring dried up, according to Derwen Community Council Chair Hywel Jones, the pond had become an eyesore.

He said: “It had really deteriorated. It would still have water in it in the winter when the rain filled it but in summer it dried up so you could walk across it.

“It was overgrown and full of rubbish which had been thrown in there or blown in and it was such a shame because most villages would give anything to have a pond like this.

“We wanted to do something about it and Cadwyn Clwyd’s Green Communities Project came up with the funding and project officer support.”

The community council oversaw the project which has seen the pool slightly reduced in size and lined to prevent water loss in summer and it is now fed by a borehole drilled 62 metres deep by Dragon Drilling, based just down the road in Bryn SM.

The area has been re-planted and seating installed and Hywel Jones added: “All the work and materials have been provided locally.

“E Jones and Son from Clawddnewydd did the groundworks, UK Lining from Cerrigydrudion lined the pond, the fencing was by J Lloyd and Son, from Bryn SM, A L Williams, from Pwllglas, did the electrical work and Llefelys Rees, from Derwen, put up the pumphouse shed.

“The furthest we had to go was to Denbigh for seating by Meifod Wood Products while the members of the council and volunteers have provided the labour.

“There used to be moorhens and wild ducks on the pond before it dried out but now we’re hoping they’ll be back soon and Clocaenog School are keen to use it for their environmental studies.”