One of the nicest green havens in Seaford, is East Blatchington Pond. Just a short walk away from the war memorial and main road, it’s a little oasis of calm, all year round. A lovely place to sit and watch the reflections on the water and the plants, for children to feed the ducks, and to listen to the birdsong.
Through the year, the planting round the pond, changes every time you go. A riot of Spring bulbs give way to clouds of Summer flowers buzzing with pollinating insects. Look out too for dragonflies and frogs!
The pond is managed by East Blatchington Pond Conservation Society and Greenhavens were invited along to their AGM in the Autumn, which included a talk by Keith Blackburn of Seaford community partnership. For the modest sum of £2 per year, you can join the Society and help to care for this lovely spot. Volunteers meet at the pond, on Saturday mornings. Do get in touch if you would like to help out!
Here are some extracts from their latest Newsletter, you can read the full newsletter here.
“Life at the Pond varies from Season to Season, and this year has been no exception. We have had some very dry periods when the lack of rain has been worrying for the welfare of the fish. Fortunately we have not had to call upon the Fire Brigade to help oxygenate the pond, as we did on a previous occasion! Cedric and his band of helpers gave us a wonderful display in the Spring, with a mass of bulbs giving much pleasure to us all. The snowdrops on the bank were a great success. Cedric planted so many I think he must have had dreams about them! The ducks, as usual, came and went, but there seemed to be several broods of ducklings and moorhens which delighted the young children. Two new trees, a Wild Cherry and a Lime, kindly donated by the Tree Wardens, have been planted.”
Ann Lloyd-James, Chairman
“Welcome once again to my yearly report from last Summer to this Spring. With careful management and subscriptions plus donations, we have bought the much needed tools and purchased a boat, boat lock-up and a shed. The whole pond area belongs to Seaford Town Council. They look after the grass cutting, the mature trees, the posts and chains next to Sutton Drove and the chain link fence by the path. The other side of this path is a steep bank which we call the woodland bank. Our boat lock-up and shed are located here on the flat piece of ground we dug out. On this bank can be found the woodland flowers and ferns, including the many snowdrops planted over the years and which now make a good display – as are the bluebells. We also look after the banks around the pond under Avondale Road and by Sutton Drove, where we have a major display of daffodils and narcissi in the Spring. In the Summer months there are downland flowers, garden flowers and weeds which give colour and interest. Together with my helpers we try to remove as many weeds, including bindweed, as possible without doing too much damage. 3
One of the major jobs is keeping the reeds under control. There are trees which drop their leaves and we rake up as many as possible as they could choke the pond if left. The water is normally chest deep thanks to repairs to the pond we did nearly 20 years ago to the plastic liner which holds the water in the pond. We cut back the long grass using our petrol strimmer. We also have a hedge cutter – very useful for the hedge along Avondale Road. Another problem is mud and silt at the bottom of the pond, which gets washed down from the hill in heavy rain.
We have an annual bonfire of the dead wood from the wood-land bank, including some of the elder trees that fell due to of the weight of ivy around them, blocking the path. As long as I can remember there have been ducks and moor-hens on the pond. Last year we had two broods of ducklings. They are wild ducks which come and go as they please.
I would like to thank my helpers and the committee: we have a good working team!”
Pond Manager’s Report May/June 2019 Cedric Trenfield
Thank you to all those who help out at the pond, so that everyone can enjoy it!
