In early 2023, an enquiry dropped into my emails from Hampton Estate in Puttenham, just the other side of Guildford.

They were looking for an Artist with a keen interest in Nature to help create some visual elements, including a map, for a beautiful restoration project - rewilding an old dairy pond on their farm - aiming to bring it ‘back to life’ so it could become a dipping pond / outdoor education space for local primary schools and other visitors.

They already had some funding and had acquired the expertise of the inimitable ‘Pete the Pond’ to undertake the physical and natural restoration of the pond, which included a detailed planting plan to invite wildlife back to this body of water.

Having met Pete and the rest of the team, I could not have been more thrilled to be involved in this project and I visited the site multiple times to see the works progress.

By the summer of that same year, the pond was utterly transformed - and I can’t tell you how good it was for the soul to see the pond now teeming with life, wildflowers abundant at its borders and dragonflies whizzing around and skimming the surface.

My task was to create a map of the pond and an illustrated information board - letting visitors know what kind of plants, fungi and wildlife to expect on site. I also created an educational learning pack for local primary schools with a range of suggested activities and endless information about the living beings in this space.

Every part of this project was a delight to work on - it gave me so much hope to see such a small and dedicated team create such a monumental change in such a short window of time - literally breathing new life into a body of water that was dirty and stagnant just 6 months prior. A great reminder that it only takes a small group of people working together with a shared vision to create tangible and lasting change in this world.