I bought myslef some new binoculars, and they arrived today. They are Pentax papilio 8.5 x 21 , and they focus down to 0.5 meters!
They are designed for viewing butterflies, but they work as normal binoculars too. My current ones struggle to focus at about 4 or 5 metres.
I've been out in the garden trying them today, and they'll be ideal for pond watching! Unfortunately no newts visible today, but the water is quite cold.
My left eye isn't very good, and they take a bit of getting used to- getting them the right distance apart was my main concern, but I think they're going to be very useful.