Lakewood

 

The underlying Eocene clays have traditionally ensured that the Highcliffe area has been wet, crossed by rivulets, pocked with ponds, generally soft under foot and prone to standing water during the wet seasons. Before settling on Highcliffe-on-Sea one of the village's names was Slop Pond, you can understand why they changed it, even if the latter is descriptively appropriate.  Lakewood is one of the remaining ponds; a good sized pond with a small island, one half surrounded with what's left of the woodland the pond was set in up to the 80's housing expansion, the other grass and open mature/veteran trees, nice. Recently some local fishy folks have cleared the pond out of clogging mud, detritus natural and otherwise, and choking flora; they've restored the banks and restocked the water with good sized fish which lurk just visible in the murky waters. A nice spot to visit on our local walks. An amazing nature oasis.