Not far from my home is this ancient track and pond. The pond is documented as being the village pond (one of two) for a now lost Anglo-Saxon village called Welei, whilst the track is nowadays known as the Wayley Green road. Both Welei and the latter Wayley both come from the name Weoh-leah, a clearing where a heathen shrine or idol once stood. A local historian claims the village was also once recorded as Wedelee and suggests the name may have meant Woden’s leah.