Blackford Pond is a small, artificial

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

in the

Blackford Blackford might refer to: People with the surname * Charles Minor Blackford (1833–1903), American lawyer *Hosea Blackford, a fictional character in books by Harry Turtledove *Ian Blackford (born 1961), Scottish politician *Inger Mewburn (Inger B ...

area of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland. The pond was created during the

Victorian Era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

in a glacial hollow in the Blackford region of Edinburgh. According to

Ordnance Survey The Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see Artillery, ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of ...

maps, it was created between 1800 and 1900 in an ice-scoured hollow.

Wildlife

It has significant populations of birds, including

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

s and

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

s. There is a small bird house on the artificial island in the middle of the pond, which attracts birds all year round. The pond used to be used by the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

to demonstrate the use of

mark and recapture Mark and recapture is a method commonly used in ecology to estimate an animal population's size where it is impractical to count every individual. A portion of the population is captured, marked, and released. Later, another portion will be captu ...

to count fish.

Geography

The pond measures , and has an island originally in size, but the island had been eroded to a quarter of this size until it was restored in 2010. The water is

eutrophic Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...

due to run-off from the neighbouring

allotment Allotment may refer to: * Allotment (Dawes Act), an area of land held by the US Government for the benefit of an individual Native American, under the Dawes Act of 1887 * Allotment (finance), a method by which a company allocates over-subscribed ...

s, as well as remains of bread given to birds and the faeces of the birds. This can lead to

algal bloom An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in fresh water or marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ''algae'' encompass ...

s that deplete the level of

oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

in the pond. There are no visible inflows, but there is a drain at the eastern end which keeps the water level constant. In 2010, it underwent worth of work, in order to repair the overgrazed margins of the pond.

Accessibility

The pond is popular with families, due to its accessibility and the presence of a play area. The pond is next to

Blackford Hill Blackford Hill is a hill in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It is in the area of Blackford, between Morningside, and the Braid Hills. Together with the Hermitage of Braid, it comprises the Hermitage of Braid and Blackford Hill ...

, and is easily accessed from both ends. The pond was used by the Waverley Curling Club, which formed in 1848 from members of the Merchiston Curling Club. Photographs show curling was played on the pond well into the 20th century. The pond often freezes over sufficiently to support the weight of birds, but does not freeze solidly enough to safely support a human.

References

{{Reflist Bodies of water of Scotland Ponds