Archived Extracts

  The formal inauguration of the Meden Valley Waterworks, which supplies water to a very wide area including Stanton Hill, Skegby, Teversal and Huthwaite, took place on Tuesday, when representatives of the various local authorities interested in the scheme made a tour of inspection of the works. The supply was officially turned on, and the electricity pumps set in motion by Mr. P.F. Day, of Pinxton, the chairman of the joint committee responsible for the work, and the party found great interest in the tour.

  The scheme, which has been in operation since June of last year, is the result of years of joint work by the Blackwell Rural and Warsop Urban Councils, is one of the biggest undertakings in which a rural council has participated, and is designed to serve a population of 91,000. The estimated cost of the work was £100,000, but it is possible that a saving of some £20,000 will be saved through the installation of electrical machinery for pumping instead of other means. The chief places to benefit are Blackwell, Pinxton, Huthwaite, South Normanton, Teversal, Skegby, Stanton Hill, Pleasley, Shirebrook, Glapwell, Scarcliffe, Upper Langwith and Ault Hucknall, and whereas in times gone by a shortage of water has been experienced, it is hoped that the new supply will be an ample one, the scheme providing for a consumption of 20 gallons per head per day.

  The three principal points in the scheme are the reservoirs at Whiteborough and Stoney Houghton, and the bore-holes at Budby. The two 36 inch diameter bore-holes were sunk in 1929, when water was found at a depth of 252 feet. So good was the supply that the pumping of two million gallons per day seemed to have no effect on it. For the purpose of the scheme, 10 hours' pumping per day at 90,000 gallons an hour is required - well within the capacity of the bore-holes.
  From here the water is pumped to Stoney Houghton, where more pumps force in on to Whiteborough, the capacity of the reservoirs at these two points being roughly one million and half a million gallons respectively. The rate of flow between Budby and Stoney Houghton is 18,000 gallons per minute.
  Not the least important part of the mechanism is a glass tube, two inches long, of about twice the thickness of an ordinary lead pencil, and filled with mercury. This is installed at the Whiteborough reservoir, and its important duty, in association with what is known as the Lea Water level recorder, is to regulate the pumps at Stoney Houghton seven miles away. The tube is delicately poised in such as way that when the water in the Whiteborough reservoir falls to a certain level, the tube closes an electrical circuit, which brings the pumps into action at Stoney Houghton until the water reaches the required level again. Should the tube fall out of action, it automatically rings an alarm bell in one of the caretaker's houses until it is adjusted.

  For the tour of inspection and the formal turning on of the supply, the members of the two Councils responsible for the scheme were accompanied by, amongst others, representatives of the Sherwood Area Water Authorities Regional Advisory Committee, the Huthwaite, Sutton, Mansfield Woodhouse and Bolsover Urban Councils, the Skegby and Basford Rural Councils, and a number of neighbouring parish councils, together with representatives of the various contractors.
  The party first visited the three underground reservoirs at Whiteborough with a storage capacity of 525,000 gallons, where Mr. Day formally turned on the supply. They then proceeded to the booster station at Stoney Houghton, which acts as the intermediate link in the scheme, where the reservoirs have a capacity of 900,000 gallons, and finished by inspecting the main pumping station at the bore-hole at Budby, where 90,000 gallons of water per hour are pumped from the famous bunter beds 230 feet below.
  Both the Stoney Houghton and Budley stations, where Mr. Day officially set the electrical pumps in motion, are magnificently equipped, and spotlessly clean, deriving their power from an 11,000 volts supply from the Derbyshire and Notts. Electric Power Co., and the visitors were impressed with the simple but highly efficient lay out of the plant, which is regarded as the last word in technical design.

  During the tour, Mr. Day remarked that the Whiteborough and Stoney Houghton reservoirs both rested on the magnesium limestone overlying the coal measures, one requiring 3,000 tons of concrete, and the other 3,000 tons. The Whiteborough reservoir served Blackwell, South Normanton, Pinxton and Huthwaite, 25,000 people being dependant on the reservoirs, while a further 22,000 in Scarcliffe, Pleasley, Teversal, Skegby, Tibshelf, and Ault Hucknall used the water in non-pumping hours. The people dependent on the Stoney Houghton supply - the heart of the scheme - numbered 58,000. The scheme was supplied by a watershed of 8.75 square miles, and the works had been so named because the River Meden rose near the Whiteborough reservoirs, and the main pipe line passed along its valley. "The provision of an ample water supply," said Mr. Day, "has more to do with the happiness and health of the people than any other form of public service."
  Mr. J. Harrop White (clerk to the Warsop Council), Mr. W.S. Cockerham (Clerk to the Blackwell Council), also took part in the inauguration ceremonies, and tributes were paid to the help given by the expert advice of Mr. Day and the technical sub-committee of colliery and electrical engineers.
  Following the inspection of the works, the party lunched at the Dukeries Hotel, Edwinstowe, Mr. Day presiding. .....

  It is understood the reason why the football cup offered to Huthwaite teams by the Old People's Treat Committee has not been competed for this season is because the Notts. Football Association could not see their way to give the necessary permission to local League clubs to take part in the competition. There have been several interviews between the Committee's representatives and the Association officials, but the latter would not give way. The chief obstacle was that application was made late in the season, and the clubs concerned had already a sufficiency of fixtures to get through, but next season the competition should materialise. From the Committee's point of view, they will be the losers of the revenue which the matches would have brought in, and this revenue is badly needed, as the funds are entirely dependent upon voluntary aid. Those who can help should therefore do their utmost, and one or two friendly matches are still to be played on behalf of the old people. The treat and entertainment are to be given as usual very shortly, and there will be several special features. The Committee have been holding regular meetings during the last few weeks and the arrangements are almost complete.

  A ratepayers' meeting was held in the Peacock Inn clubroom, Hucknall Huthwaite, for the purpose of choosing candidates for the Local Board of Guardians' election. Mr. S. Fox was elected chairman, and observed that the retiring members were Messrs. Pilsworth, Farnsworth and Hopkins, all of whom were eligible for re-election. Ultimately the majority present decided to nominate and support Mr. T. Thompson (of the Royal Oak), Mr. G. Farnsworth and Mr. J.B. Pilsworth. For the office of Guardian, Mr. T.C. Birkhead was waited upon from the meeting and asked if he would allow himself to be nominated. He consented, and the meeting decided to nominate him. It was afterwards ascertained that he had been privately nominated for the Local Board, and in answer to questions by the retepayers' committee he promised to retire in order to save an election if no other candidate would do so.
  It was decided to form a Ratepayers' Association and a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Committee of seven were elected pro tem. The subjects under discussion were the increased rates; the water rate; the Board Clerk's salary; the unfair letting of parish carting (by-work), extra outlay on the roads and the Council grant; and the M.S. and L. railway being allowed to cross the turnpike without adequate compensation.

  Brown-Slack. -On the 28th inst., at the Parish Church, Sutton, by the Rev. F.J. Adams, John Brown, of Sutton, to Elizabeth Ann Slack, of Huthwaite.
  Evans-Hall. -On the 30th inst., at the same place, by the Rev. E.H. Perkins, Arthur Richard Evans to Alice Hall, both of Sutton.