Somebody is STILL trying to drain our boggy patch in Lambrok Meadow. If you know who the Phantom Ditch Digger is, or if you see them in action, PLEASE will you ask them to stop or at least ask them to explain to us why they are doing it; our contact details are here.
Conservation activities in a fragmented landscape like that of north and west Wiltshire have been focused on keeping relatively large patches of habitat intact: Green Lane Woods, the Kennet and Avon margins and the wildflower meadows at Morningside Farm come to mind.
But we should not disregard the increasingly important role of small patches in the conservation of ecosystems. As habitat loss continues in these fragmented landscapes, we need to hang on to as many different pieces as possible no matter how small; even tiny patches like this one can contribute to species persistence.
Lambrook meadow is lowland wet grassland, a category that includes decayed water meadow and riverine flood plain. More than 95% of lowland wet grassland and its rich ecology was lost in the 50 years between 1930 and 1980. What we have left is precious and needs protection a lot more than it needs draining.
Elements in the ecology of boggy patches:
More about the boggy patch:
Southwick Country Park Nature Reserve 
Is that where the pond was, up until a couple of years ago, and mysteriously disappeared?
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I think the pond was at the other end. This is between the car park and the goat willow. Over the years some of the waterways, ponds and ditches that were filled in for various reasons are beginning to re-establish themselves as boggy patches with wetland ecologies.
Is it water voles? There are comments on your Fb page that suggest the ditch is a water vole runway. That would be rare and one in the eye for who ever wrote the ecology report for the Church Lane developers.
RPS’s Ecological Appraisal of the Church Lane site was a disgrace; and it could well be water voles.