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8th January 2008  -  East Blatchington Pond   -  Cedric Trenfield

Cedric Trenfield gave us an interesting and detailed account of the restoration of East Blatchington Pond between 1980 and 2002, managed by him, with some voluntary help. The pond was always there, used by the villagers for water supplies and water for the cattle, but it had started to dry up and look very sorry for itself.

In 1980 two local ladies gave £2000 to help restore it and a digger was hired to excavte a much deeper area. When this was deep enough it was covered with plastic sheeting and covered with mud. Water was fed in by pipes using the overflow drained from the road. Also an island was constructed in the middle, supported on wooden poles and a duck house made and donated by local children. Reeds were planted and, as it became more established, Cedric experimented with wild flower seeds and also planted trees.

A hawthorn was planted in memory of one of our members, fondly known as Nell.

In 1987 many of the trees were uprooted by the hurricane and volunteers helped put it in order again. Funds are often raised by Friends of Blatchington Pond. Occasionally a school hires it for dancing around the maypole and Cedric showed us some lovely photographs he had taken over the years showing the history of the pond. He himself regularly spends two or three hours working there, even going on Christmas Eve to make sure it was tidy for Christmas.