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WIMPOLE ESTATE WELCOMES DARTMOOR PONIES
land to reestablish traditional parkland habitats, and the introduction of the ponies will play a vital role in managing this developing landscape. By grazing naturally among the young trees, the ponies will help control vigorous plants, creating the right conditions for wildflowers and grasses to thrive beneath the scattered trees. “Within minutes of arriving, one of them was happily munching on a thistle, which is exactly what we were hoping for!” said Dave Hassall,
The National Trust’s Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire has introduced five Dartmoor ponies to its parkland, marking the start of a new chapter in the estate’s ongoing work to restore nature and biodiversity. The ponies, three mares and two geldings, are settling into their new surroundings, grazing across four interlinked fields of newly created wood pasture. Over the past five years, the Wimpole team has planted thousands of trees across areas of former non-productive arable
farm and countryside manager at Wimpole Estate. If you visit, you may spot them grooming one another or exploring the pastures (note they aren’t domesticated animals and shouldn’t be approached or fed!).
Community updates from across Cambridge
58 FEBRUARY 2026 CAMBSEDITION.CO.UK
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