The rangers have given nature a helping hand by creating these pools which are fed by water from the nearby Hawthwaite Beck. A sluice controlling the water level allows the rangers to keep the pools wet in the summer months for the toads when other natural pools have dried up.
It's a cold, wet and muddy job in the winter for the rangers and volunteers as they clear the plants and debris out of the pools. If this wasn't done, the pools would become too shaded for the toads and their toadlets to survive.