Poet's pool to be renovated in Cambridge

Council wants residents to have their say on renovating Lord Byron's pool

Cambridge City Council is aiming to renovate a local pool made famous by poet Lord Byron.

The pool was named after him after his regular visits to the area and the site has been a nature reserve since 2005.

Now the council is asking residents for their views on its renovation plans.

The pool appears on historic maps but has been largely lost to encroaching scrub.

A spokesperson for the council said: “We propose to clear this scrub, using removed stumps and timber to create a hibernaculum for amphibians and invertebrates.

“The plan is for vegetation from the original seed bank and adjacent ponds to colonise the pond over time.

The area is densely treed with a walk through the woods and alongside the river.

The tree stock is slowly being returned to a more historically original state with the removal of non-native species. The woodland site offers a circular walk next to the River Cam where Kingfishers and Grey Wagtails can be seen on the weir.

Byron, who swam in the weir pool, was often described as the most flamboyant and notorious of the major romantics and was both celebrated and castigated in his life for his aristocratic excesses, which included huge debts and numerous love affairs with both men and women.