Calm, cool, collected

Leadmine valued for quiet

By Taryn Plumb
Turley Publications Correspondent

If water bodies were rock stars, Leadmine Pond would be Sturbridge's "quiet Beatle."
Of the town's five great ponds, this hourglass-shaped water body is the smallest, the clearest, the most pristine, the most secluded and the least spoiled by man.
"It's a beautiful lake, and it has nice surrounding land," said Bill Kenyon, conservation chair of the Leadmine Pond Association.
Naturally, the residents who live along its shoreline want to keep it that way. "We care very much for the lake," said Kenyon, noting that residents keep a close watch over it. "We don't want to see it get zooey."
Yet Leadmine - dubbed as such because of the graphite that was once mined near its shores - is unique in that it has natural buffers against such overuse.
Situated in western Sturbridge, it's set back from the major roadways and is overall less visible. With the other four great ponds, "you know they're there," noted David Mitchell of the Sturbridge Conservation Commission. Leadmine, however, "is much more off the beaten path."
But among other things, that gives it character. "We don't need to have all the lakes be exactly like one another," Mitchell noted.
Leadmine's size (53 acres, leaving it dwarfed by each of the other great ponds by at least 150 acres) and shape (thin, roughly five-eights of a mile long and bulged at its ends like a peanut) also naturally inhibits any over-growth.
First and foremost, it's below the size limit for jet skis, which if allowed would be like "motorcycles in a basketball court," Kenyon asserted. Because it's so small, it's also not well-fit for waterskiing or overall fast boat cruising in general. "There's not a long time to get up to speed before you have to turn around," said Kenyon.
Similarly, visitor numbers are kept low because there's no off-site parking for the boat launch, which is recommended for non-motorized boats such kayaks, canoes, sailboats, as well as low-power fishing boats.
Combined, these factor also keep the lake relatively unaffected by Mother Nature's ills. When it comes to weeds, "it's the most pristine," said Mitchell. Part of that can be credited to the lake's natural depth, which steepens rapidly and plunges to 55 feet in some places - making it difficult for sun-loving plants to take hold.
Still, invasive weeds are a concern, Kenyon said, and residents are always on the lookout - especially for the dreaded milfoil, which has overtaken other area lakes. They also do what they can to educate visiting boaters to clean their propellers, where weeds often hitchhike lake-to-lake. "We're very vigilant about it," said Kenyon. "We're not hit with it, but we could be."
Still, that's not to say that Leadmine is as untouched as Walden Pond was back in Henry David Thoreau's days.
All told, the area around the lake is about 95 percent developed. That comprises about 80 residences, roughly 35 percent of which are year-round, Kenyon explained.
Most of those dwellings operate with wells and septic systems, Mitchell said, so residents have to be extra conscientious of seepage. The fact that Leadmine is a slowly-flushed pond could turn any contamination into a long-time problem, he added. To mitigate any problems in the future, he suggested the lake association consider instating a larger buffer zone around the lake.
Erosion and run-off are similarly moderate issues, although not detrimental at this point. Because a significant amount of roads that trace Leadmine's borders are dirt, heavy downpours can wash soil and sediment into the lake.
Yet residents consider the biggest pressure to be increased boat traffic. According to Kenyon, the lake can get raucous rather quickly.
"You get more than three boats out there, it can be potentially dangerous," he said. Because of this, the association generally tries to discourage waterskiing.
Another impact of boat traffic: With less of a surface area for wakes to dissipate, waves often crash against the shoreline and consequently eat away at it. In many cases, that leaves tree roots exposed like craggy fingers. Kenyon said he believes that the once populous crayfish population has similarly dwindled due to more rocky seas.
Not all problems are man-made, however. Beavers, persistent and busy, have dammed up inlet streams to Leadmine and have also felled trees along its shoreline. That further contributes to erosion, Mitchell explained.
Still, these various challenges have done little to dampen the pond's natural beauties.
Despite its size, Leadmine - or Quassuck to Native Americans - is one of the deepest of Sturbridge's great ponds and also has the best transparency, at 17 feet. "It holds up as the best water quality year after year," said Mitchell.
It's also home to undeveloped islands dense with blueberries, surrounded by steep hills with beautiful views and encompasses a unique shoreline littered with small, rust-colored rocks known as "Sturbridge stone."
Beneath its waters, bluegill, bullhead, chain pickerel, largemouth bass, pumpkinseed and yellow perch make their homes. Above, floating pond lilies provide natural shade and add to the view.
"It's very pleasing," Kenyon said of Leadmine. "It's beautiful."