13/09/2026
These past few months of drought and heat may finally be coming to an end for this Summer. One of the takeaways from the experience of this extended dry period is a reminder of how precious abundant, clean water is in our lives, not just for drinking
and cooking and washing, but also for the health of our gardens, for our wildlife and natural habitats and for our recreational bathing in streams and on the beach.
Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to …bathe in?
Over the past 2 years, STB volunteers have been monitoring water quality in the Slash Pond and also in the streams that flow onto the beach which are so critical for our eels and otters and other aquatic life. As the streams where they enter the beach are also the primary play area for small children, and also where dog owners bring
their pets to bathe and drink, ensuring and maintaining their quality is especially critical. Until earlier this year, NRW’s Bathing Water Profile for Broad Haven reassuringly claimed that they regularly monitored the streams. When we asked to see the data
from their monitoring we discovered that in fact NRW had ceased monitoring the streams in 2019. The Profile was edited to remove the misleading claim in April this year. Meanwhile, the data gathered by our STB volunteers has consistently found
levels of E.coli in the streams to be either worse or significantly worse than the legal classification of Poor bathing water quality for freshwater. Yet any day of the week, especially in Summer, there are small children bathing and playing and building d***s and sandcastles and so on in the streams. How is this possible at a Blue Flag beach with a consistently ‘’Excellent’’ bathing quality water rating? The answer is that the streams are not considered bathing water by NRW (!). Clearly, the current situation with the public health risk and the threat this represents to our visitor
economy is not acceptable. As a result of support from our County Councillor Nick Neumann and MS’s Paul Davies and Eluned Morgan and of The Cleddau Project, in May NRW agreed to start
testing the streams for E.coli again and their initial results have corroborated our own data showing worrying levels of pollution. At the time of writing, with the help of The Cleddau Project we are pushing NRW to investigate the source(s) of the pollution
and take the necessary action to stop it.
We need your help!
If we are to have confidence that the streams on the beach are safe to bathe in, we need to keep up our water quality monitoring, increase the frequency of testing and the number of locations we test, and to purchase the supplies we need to carry out
the tests. If you’d like to support our work either by becoming a tester, maintain the database or by contributing to help us cover the costs or are interested to help in anyway, please drop us a line at [email protected]
Autumn Great UK Water Blitz - September 18-21st
We will once again be participating with thousands of people and groups from around the UK in the Great UK Water Blitz to carry out some simple water quality tests in the Slash Pond and in the streams on the beach. Come and join us! Drop us
a line at [email protected] and we’ll get back to you with the specific day and time. Check out the map in the link below and zoom into Broad Haven to see our
results from April.: https://www.freshwaterwatch.org/pages/great-uk-waterblitz-results
New National Forest for Wales Information Board
Many of you have noticed and commented positively on the attractive new wooden signs at each of the entrances to the Reserve and expressed an interest to know more. Well, our new information board has been installed at the entrance from the
car park and provides information about National Forest for Wales and the Slash Pond Community Nature Reserve. We hope this will generate a greater appreciation for this natural area in the heart of our community.
(see at bottom of post)
Have you found a Manx Shearwater?
September is peak fledging season for the Manx shearwaters of Skomer and Skokholm Islands. It is the time when these young birds take to the wing for the first time and begin their extraordinary journey to the coast of Argentina and the Summer
in the Southern hemisphere, returning to Pembrokeshire when they are ready to nest and reproduce.
The shearwaters begin their journey under cover of darkness to avoid predators, but they can be blown off course by storms and get disoriented by lights along the coast and crash land near buildings along the Front and seek shelter in corners. Their legs
are designed for paddling and diving, not for walking and so they will not be able to take off again. If it’s not rescued it will likely be predated by a cat or dog. Please check out the instructions in the box below for what to do if you find one. Last year
over 500 were rescued and released!
