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Today the volunteer group were helped by local fisherman Keith Jones, and other locals, to catch a number of the very large carp in the pond which have been in distress. The combination of very low water levels and high temperatures causing less oxygen in the water have made some of the fish visibly rise to the surfaafce and gasp for air.

Keith had a long net which we used to ‘drag’ the pond, moving the fish into shallow water where we could catch them in small nets, or in some cases, rescuing them from where they were caught in the big net (as below). Huge thanks to Keith for his time, and also for donating his net, which had to be cut to get the fish out.

Some carp have clearly been in the pond a long time as they are at least a foot long and very powerful. They are most likely there from being dumped in the past and we would urge people not to do so in the future!

A big fish caught in the drag net about to be cut free!

The fish have gone to a temporary ‘holiday home’ thanks to one volunteer, until we see how water levels are in 7 – 10 days’ time. There are still fish in the pond but fewer, and this will make the remaining ones happier, we hope.

Thank you to all the volunteers and others who helped in this fish rescue.

If you have a large pond and would like to adopt a fish let us know!

An event introducing this project is being held on 18th July 2026 at Seaford Baptist Church, Belgrave Road. EBPCS will have a stall, so it’s a chance to come along from 1.30pm and see how we will be collaborating with this project and chat to our volunteers.

We hope to display some of the results of our own wildlife survey to date. We’ve recorded over 85 plants and trees at the pond, mostly native.

We’re excited that our resident moorhens have had another 2 broods of chicks! Please don’t try to get close as they are very timid birds.

The tiny bundles of black fluff are very sweet, and one was spotted pretending to be a duckling – we have 3 of those too – and joining the mother duck and her brood.

Here is this year’s duckling crop!

The benches at the pond are well used and we try to keep them in good order but the weather has been against us with extreme wet and also heat.

Some of our memorial benches are feeling their age and will need replacement soon. If you are interested in contributing to a new bench please get in touch. While we wish to retain the memorial plaques we have, there is room to share!

Last year (2025) we did some refurbishing of some of the older benches at the pond. Several of the tree slab style benches were made by Cedric himself, but now have some wet rot in both tops and legs. (not surprising after 40 years plus!)

We are trying to keep them in use by adding new plywood tops and would like to thank Parker Building Supplies for their generous donation of plywood for this purpose.

The bench which was originally a memorial to Hazel Trenfield has been given a new plaque to Cedric, so it is now a memorial to both Hazel and Cedric. The bench is a lovely place to sit and pond watch, and remember them both.

The Committee are very sad to be sharing the news that Cedric Trenfield, for many years our Pond Manager, died on 10th December 2023. He had been in hospital for a few weeks.

His sons Peter and John very kindly invited the Pond team to Cedric’s funeral, which was very well attended, with a mix of people from all the different groups to which he had belonged. The Pond was quite a big part of Cedric’s later life and was mentioned in both the sons’ tributes to their father. It was a lovely service, with beautiful music and also Spring flowers of which Cedric would have approved!

Cedric will be sadly missed by all of us in the Pond team. He was an enormous inspiration to us, and a huge source of knowledge about the pond and its restoration.

In due course we would like to dedicate a memorial of some kind to Cedric’s work at the pond, together with his family. Thank you very much to those who have already donated in his name, via the church collection or in person. If you would like to contribute specifically to such a memorial (not the pond’s upkeep in general) please see the webpage about donations, and please mention your wish to contribute specifically to this.

We’re delighted that in collaboration with Trees for Seaford we completed the planting of three new trees on 2nd December. They have been planted on the bank side of the pond to replace some of the trees the Council were forced to fell as they were diseased and unsafe.

Trees for Seaford have generously donated a fastigiate birch, a hawthorn and a winter flowering cherry for this area. They worked with our Pond volunteers to plant them and protect them with stakes and wire cages. Coffee and cakes were eaten to celebrate!

Dan from Trees for Seaford gives the pond volunteers a masterclass in how to protect the new trees with stakes and a wire mesh cage

The three new trees: hawthorn, birch and cherry (left to right)

The Committee and volunteers at the pond would like to thank Trees for Seaford for the donation of the three lovely and very good-sized trees, and their help in planting them.

To read more about Trees for Seaford’s work see seafordpartnership.co.uk/trees-for-seaford

Dan and Vicky from Trees for Seaford with the just-planted birch tree

Last Weds, 12th July, we had a visit from the Seaford branch of East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service who came to rescue our fish from lack of oxygen in the water. As the weather gets warmer oxygen levels in the water drop, and we’ve had a report of the carp gasping for oxygen. Luckily we had already booked the date for the Fire Service to come down during their training session. They brought a very high-powered pump which they used to circulate the water back via an impressive fountain, which aerates the water. They ran the pump for around 50 minutes.

We are thinking about how often we could do this if the weather is very hot. We estimate there is around 100,000 – 110,000 litres of water in the pond so it’s not a small job.

Our thanks to the team from the Fire Service for their help!

The Fire Service team setting up the pump and water jet

Steady fountain aerating the water!

We are delighted to be the recipients of the very first Jean Cash Environment Award. The Mayor of Seaford has chosen the East Blatchington Pond Conservation Society as the recipient of the award, which was created in honour of the late Jean Cash.

We collected the award from the Town Hall recently… watch this space for a picture of our volunteers with it!

Cedric Trenfield, our Pond Manager, holds the Jean Cash Environment Award with members of our volunteer team and Committee around him. Our thanks to the Mayor, and Mr Cash, for this lovely recognition of our work.

This lovely picture of the pond last Spring was taken by Sarah Playforth.

Welcome to our new website!

We hope you have visited the Pond, or will do so to enjoy this lovely open space which is there for all local people and visitors to Seaford.

We now have the facility to accept membership subscriptions or donations online! Please see our new Donations page Subscriptions and donations

Our new Agreement with the Council

The EBPCS has recently signed a new 10 year agreement with the Council to continue to manage the pond and its surrounding area. The Council were very complimentary about our work at the meeting to discuss the terms, and have agreed to a number of changes to the Agreement. This includes a commitment to help us in the event of extreme weather affecting the wildlife in the pond. We have also extended the term of the Agreement to 10 years, from 5.

The Acting Chair Jenny Campbell and Secretary Angela Townshend signed on behalf of the Committee at the Town Hall in June, witnessed by local councillors.

At the same time we collected our Jean Cash Environment Award which the Mayor of Seaford has given to the Society. (see posts.)