Turtle Doves and the Dew Pond of Newton-on-Rawcliffe

As we pedalled merrily through the village of Newton-on-Rawcliffe, we stumbled upon this delightful little dew pond. It was instantly recognisable from the photographs we’d seen in the Birds on the Edge exhibition at the Danby Lodge National Park Centre. This pond, restored by the North York Moors Trust, is now a haven for wildlife, especially the Turtle Doves. I must mention, in the interest of precision, that the pond is technically not within the bounds of the National Park—though it misses by a mere 20 metres, a charmingly insignificant distance.

The Turtle Dove, a shy and dappled bird with a white-tipped tail, is not one for staying put. Unlike its less adventurous cousin, the Collared Dove, it migrates and by now will have packed its tiny bags and flown back to Africa for the winter. When spring beckons, it will return to build nests in thorny bushes and feast on seeds. Its gentle purr, like a soft lullaby, is a quintessential sound of summer—though, alas, these lovely birds are dwindling in number. One reason for this decline is the scarcity of food during their breeding season. However, hope is not lost! Efforts such as Operation Turtle Dove are working to save these birds, and dew ponds like this one, with its gently sloping ‘beach’, provide the perfect spot for a refreshing sip.

Dew ponds, as it happens, are man-made marvels, built in the 18th and 19th centuries to supply water for livestock in places like the Tabular Hills, where natural water sources are as rare as a sunny English bank holiday. Though whimsically called “cloud ponds” or “mist ponds,” their water mainly came from good, old-fashioned rainfall. For nearly 200 years, these ponds were a lifeline for farming communities. But as progress marched on—piped water and fewer farm animals—the need for these quaint ponds faded, and many were left to nature’s care.

Newton-on-Rawcliffe, by the way, makes a star appearance in the Domesday Book as ‘Newton(e)’, and in 1301, twenty-one householders were recorded as contributing their fair share of taxes¹
NYMNPA HER No: 2646 Newton on Rawcliffe village. Time, it seems, has always found a way to keep its little records.

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NYMNPA HER No: 2646 Newton on Rawcliffe village