In memory of Brian Sefton
** UPDATE **Brian's celebration of life will be held on 25th August at the White Hart hotel, Stratton, Swindon at 1pm.
Tribute to the late Brian Sefton
(Brian in charge of the National Disabled Festival, circa 1990.)
I’d known Brian Sefton for over thirty years. Our friendship started when he rang and asked if I would go down to Gloucestershire to write a feature about the National Disabled Festival, which he ran for sixteen years. The festival was held on three lakes including Hills and the huge Bradleys gravel pit and Brian was clearly organiser-in-chief. It was the biggest event of its kind in Europe but the festival ceased with Brian’s retirement from Rover cars.
(The impressive team of helpers at the festival)
The year after the purchase of Horseshoe Lake by the Society there were rumblings of discontent. Derek Stritton and I weren’t part of the Society hierarchy at that time but we were called in to ‘help sort things out’. Derek lives in Essex and I live in Derbyshire so we weren’t exactly on the doorstep when it came to ‘sorting things out’. The only person I knew in Gloucestershire was Brian, who I knew had helped create one carp water, Wick Lake at South Cerney, and struck me as being authoritative, passionate about and carp fishing. I rang him, the upshot of which was a meeting in Lechlade with the Brian, Derek, me and the Horseshoe bailiffs, following which Brian became the Horseshoe Fishery Manager.
(Brian in charge of a Horseshoe draw, or work party.)
Being a force of nature, and gifted with a mind of his own, he had a propensity for rubbing people up the wrong way, but he was an achiever and got things done. He continued to get things done for well over ten years before falling out with the regime that we all fell out with eventually.
(A steering committee meeting, late 90s.)
What sets Brian apart from numerous others who have done more than their share for the Society was the acquisition of the lake now known as Farriers, and its stock. Brian had his finger on the pulse in Gloucestershire and was aware of a gravel pit that was on the verge of being dug out. When the digging was finished in the mid-90s Brian’s declared long-term interest in the water meant that he was able to acquire the two-lake venue on behalf of the Society. He arranged sponsorship of the water by tackle giants Daiwa, as a result of which the lake was named Carp Lake Daiwa for the first few years of its life. At some stage the two-lake venue was renamed Farriers by the regime Brian which we all fell out with. It should have been renamed Sefton’s.
(Farriers just prior to the stocking with the Oxfordshire farm pond fish)
Back then carp availability wasn’t what it is today and the first stockings were scrapings from wherever fish could be found. Then Brian got an introduction to a farmer in Oxfordshire who had a pond full of small carp. Did Brian want them? Did we ever! They were on the small side. Brian had the fish health-checked. They were of good pedigree, and healthy; merely stunted from the over-stocked nature of the pond. For the princely sum of £150 Brian obtained circa 550 carp, mainly commons, but with 50-60 mirrors among them. It is fair to say that some of us had our doubts about putting 550 small carp into the new gravel pits (understatement!), but they turned out to be the greatest of Brian’s achievements. Farriers is now a prime ‘circuit water’ famed for its 40lb+ commons, and having produced at least one fifty-pounder. The fish are also the basis for the stocking policies now carried out by Miles Carter and his helpers in the Society stock ponds at Horseshoe. I smile when I reflect on the chain of events that led to Farriers and its carp being what they are today. In terms of making carp-fishing dreams come true Farriers, and the fish it holds, rank high on the desirability scale.
(Farriers has produced numerous 40lb+ commons to 50lb+.)
More personally, one of my favourite pictures of Brian is of him with Daphne Davis. Daphne worked for the Society and they became an item, which I hope is a suitably vague assessment of their long-term relationship. I know they caused quite a stir when they turned up together when the Society had a stand at the NEC in the late 90s! Brian’s health has deteriorated over the last few years and Daphne has become his guardian angel, and has kept us informed of his whereabouts, and declining health situation. His last public appearance was at the Society’s Festival of Carp on 8th July 2023. Daphne was his unofficial carer: he was in a wheelchair and clearly a shadow of his former self, but the spark of recognition for his whereabouts, and those he cared about, was still there. Then, merely three weeks later, in the early hours of 29th July he was gone following a fall at his final care home.
(Brian with his guardian angel, former Society employee Daphne Davis.)
(Brian was one of the brave replacement directors following the successful boardroom battle of 2016)
I hope posterity remembers the contribution you made to the Carp Society cause, and the carp waters now, and of the future, Brian. You were special - to me the Gloucestershire Godfather - and I bless the day I met you. Rest in peace, dear friend.
Footnote: Brian originated the Society fish-rearing programme in the late 90s. With his retirement this fell into abeyance before being revived and expanded so successfully by Miles Carter and his team. The refurbished growing-on pond at the far end of Horseshoe, initiated by Brian many years ago, has been dedicated to Brian’s memory.
Tim Paisley on behalf of the Carp Society
