It is ironic that whilst typically being the driest area of the country in terms of rainfall the Fens of South Lincolnshire are also prone to flood.
When I looked at my old school atlas it stated the average annual rainfall for Holbeach was under 20 inches – looking into these figure they were largely derived from the weather station established for the Holbeach RAF range in 1926 through to 1980. The figures from 1991 to 2023 for the Holbeach site are nearer 25 inches per annum.[i] As already described, about a third of England’s water flows through the region into the Wash.
In contrast insurance companies view the area as high flood risk in a fairly widespread carpet approach to the whole of the Fens. These statistics affect properties throughout the Spalding and Fenland areas with highly increased premiums. Like for like insurance for my Spalding property is almost three times higher than that of my Amble property despite the latter being 10 minutes’ walk from the Sea and the former being over 10 miles from the Wash. Yet the area is so low it is deemed high risk of flood even in areas that have had no documented flood in hundreds of years. Yet by definition the Fens are a flood risk:
“Fen – a low marshy of frequently flooded area of land.” – Oxford Concise English Dictionary.
If you look at the side of High Bridge, Spalding there is a flood mark from October 1880. This is not unusual in itself and can be found on various properties throughout the Fens and on other places in Spalding. As such these markings serve as a warning. The 1880 flood was particularly dreadful as described in detail in a particularly English manner on Tuesday October 12th.
“TERRIBLE FLOODS IN THE VALLEY OF THE WELLAND
TWO BREACHES IN THE BANK OF THE RIVER GLEN
COWBIT WASHES OVERFLOWING
SHOCKING CATASTROPHE NEAR BOURNE A MAN AND HIS HORSE DROWNED
THE SCENE AT SURFLEET RESERVOIR
AWFUL INUNDATIONS AT DEEPING AND PEAKIRK
PART OF PETERBOROUGH AND STAMFORD UNDERWATER.
Calamities appear to be on the increase. The past summer has been one of the most singular on record. Long periods of dry weather have been succeeded by terrible downpours, and not only have crops been ruined, but the whole of the Fen district has been seriously endangered. Indeed, these transatlantic “depressions” as our New York friends call them, have been the most terrible and severe ever known. At one time, continuous and heavy rainfalls in the Midlands have sent down by the Welland and its tributary streams enormous floods which, failing to pass through the ineffective outfalls near the mouth of the river, have devastated and flooded thousands of acres of land. At other periods the very heavens have opened in our midst and discharged themselves upon our lands, ruining the cropping and blighting and blasting that which it has taken a whole year to mature. By a strange and inexplicable process these instances have alternated with each other, and whilst the consequences have not been serious in the counties where the rains have generally been the heaviest the effects have been most serious in this immediate neighbourhood. The drainage of the Fens is a matter of little interest to the general public, we know, and it is only when an exceptional flood occurs that the subject comes prominently before the newspaper reader. At the same time, the system so efficiently originated at the commencement of the present century is in every-day operation – floods or no floods; and whilst we respect its advantages we frequently forget that we are indebted to enterprises worthy of better recognition for our comparative immunity from frequent inundation. As we have said, the excessive rainfalls are felt most in the neighbourhood of Spalding, chiefly because it is where the flood water passes its most crucial test. There is a grand natural basin in the Cowbit, Crowland and Deeping washes for flood waters, but inasmuch as all this has to pass under the one arch of Spalding High Bridge, it will naturally be seen that as only a certain quantity can travel under a certain pressure through the opening per hour, any excess of that supply must accumulate in the districts above the Bridge. Hence these wash lands rapidly become inundated, and the uplands are as speedily relieved. In cases of continuous rainfall, however, even the enormous acreage of the washes, which average from five to ten feet in depth, and from a few hundred yards to a mile in width, are perfectly inefficient under present arrangements to hold the rainfall; and when this is so, which is but seldom, the utmost consternation prevails, and anxiety of a very grave nature is felt, not only for and by occupiers of houses and property liable to be flooded by the sudden rise of the water, but also by those who farm land in the vicinage of the Washes, and where a devastating flood means utter ruin. All interests unite on occasions of this kind to assist in preventing a breakage of the banks, and all possible arrangements are made to avoid, by watching and cradging, an overflow or rupture. Many of them are made on treacherous or peaty subsoils; or weakened by the network of channels formed by hermit rats; or what is worse, some of them are at times said to be the subject of a diabolical cutting by a hostile spade in the hands of a friend of the opposite bank. Nothing can be more anxious, and nothing more dispiriting than the effort to stem the flow of this flood water, as it rises inch after inch upon the cradge, and when, after some days and nights of ceaseless labour, and officers and men are worn out and exhausted, it is found that the water is gaining upon the workers, and the results of their labour and all their forethought and skill are demolished in a moment. Those whose homes it has been sought to protect from inundation are often the readiest to criticise and the first to find fault with the useless labour, and help at time difficult to obtain. The public, discovering the water at their doorsteps, begin to find out that there is such a science as that of Drainage, and they hamper and impede the work by their curiosity and questioning. They are not like the Vicar of Spalding, who, I remember very well eight years ago, when the Glen Bank gave way just at the outer Bourne Eau Sluice, took off his coat and worked hard all day with the barrow, whilst dozens of great strapping fellows stood looking on. Perhaps it is not so much a want of will as a want of organisation that stands in the way on these occasions. The heads of the drainage boards suddenly find themselves wanted in all directions. On Sunday last Mr. Harrison’s services were not only in requisition from the High Bridge at Spalding to near Market Deeping – along nearly twenty miles of Welland Bank – but also in connection with the whole of the great drainage arteries of the fen between Crowland and Pinchbeck. No one individual can, of course, accomplish all this distance. The banks may be weak in fifty different places, and yet a tunnel bursting in an exceptional locality throws down all places and upsets all human calculations; whilst it not unfrequently happens that the stream which gave most promise of danger is the very last to practically demonstrate it. The anxiety attendant upon a great flood can therefore be surmised. The engineer then stands in the position of a man in the open surrounded by ambushed foes. Danger is all around; each shot may be fatal; and it is quite impossible to say where the next may come from. Thus, whilst it is quite impossible for some improvement to be manifested on these occasions, it is fair to add that much of the fault-finding and much of the criticism might very well be dispensed with, and, at the same time, a little more readiness displayed to help, either with a watchful eye or a practical surveillance over the labourers, or a cheery assistance to them in the midst of their tiring and anxious work. Our space will not allow us to describe, save in very brief terms, the process by which the district is drained, and what lands its rivers drain. We may premise that the system will best be understood if we divide it into two.
The Welland passes through Spalding at a distance of some nine miles from the opening into the sea, but ere it reaches either the town or the dangerous sea marshes below Fosdyke, it has run a long and circuitous course. It has its rise near Sibbertoft, and being the boundary line between Rutland, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire, it necessarily has to carry off a reat portion of the flood waters of these counties. The channel has not seriously shifted, though it is thought by authorities the main stream originally went from Crowland to the sea by the South Holland into Cross-keys Wash, whilst a secondary channel found its way, according to the eminent Dugdale, “in a most slow course to Spalding and Surfleet.” The river is now, however, 42 miles in length, and its drainage area is 760 square miles. An inch of rain in Leicestershire, therefore, means a flood at Spalding and along the district, and an excessive rainfall a terrible inundation. This Welland, being at places choked by debris, mills, and warehouses, and at intervals silted up in its bed, necessarily takes some time to discharge itself, and whilst this process is going on – which process is materially affected, we may add, by the tidal waters of the sea – there is an accumulation of waters throughout all low-lying parts of the valley, Stamford and Market Deeping suffer most on these occasions; Spalding is generally free from serious injury. The Welland, however, does not drain the fen districts to any extent. The wide space known as Deeping Fen is drained by a magnificent engine at Pode Hole, which lifts the fen water into the Vernatt’s Drain and thus passes it rapidly to the Reservoir – a junction at Surfleet of the Welland, Vernatts and Glen rivers.
The Glen which we have just mentioned rises beyond Grantham, and makes a circuitous course of 19 miles before it reaches the Welland; some six or seven miles from its mouth it received the waters of the Born Eau. This river is in reality a viaduct, for its bed is considerably above the land level.
It will thus be seen that the Welland not only discharges its own waters, but those also of the Glen and water also pumped out of the Deeping Fen watershed by means of the Vernatts Drain. The colossal nature of the scheme is therefore better understood than if it appeared that the Welland has merely its own waters to dispose of.
On Monday night last a heavy rain set in, not only in Lincolnshire, but across the Midland Counties generally. The Times reports showed a most exceptional fall in the course of Tuesday and Wednesday, and the charts of the Meteorological Office in London seemed to place the “depression” as hanging chiefly over the districts mentioned. It required no great skill, therefore, to predict that in a day or two an excessive flood would come down, especially as Monday witnessed the highest of the high equinoetial tides in all the rivers. We suppose the drainage authorities would at once take steps to secure any questionable places in their banks; at all events we know that a small army of men was engaged in watching the Glen Banks on Tuesday night, because it was here where the danger was first manifested. The river rose five feet in the night, and on the Wednesday morning it was found that the tides held up the flood water to a most inconvenient extent. That evening the bank burst, though not to a serious extent, inasmuch as prompt and ready assistance, rendered by all within the neighbourhood prevented the breach from widening. No sooner had the gap been stopped, however, than the river at once rose again, and as the tides held up the river water – the sea doors of the sluices being closed by the force of the tide – the Glen water speedily rose at the sluice, mounted over the sluice walls, and flooded the whole of the neighbourhood. Indeed, such a sight has never been witnessed at the Reservoir. On Friday night the bank again gave way, this time in Bourne South Fen, and we regret to add, so serious was the breach that it was found quite impossible to do anything to stop the rush of water into the Fen. On Saturday morning it was found that the water had got across the Bourne and Spalding line, midway between Bourne and Twenty, and traffic had to be entirely stopped the depth of water being two feet on the metals. Also Saturday this flow continued , and the Glen speedily lowered in consequence, and therefore any further danger so far as this river was concerned was at an end. We may add that the only means of draining the South Fen is by a four feet culvert which passes under the Glen and into the Counter Drain, one of the artificial drains made to rid the land of flood water in the district of Tonge End. All the water having to pass this narrow culvert will therefore take some time to dispose of, especially as the high condition of the Vernatts Drain renders it exceedingly difficult to get the Counter Drain water away.
On Saturday the waters of the Welland had flooded Cowbit Wash to a very serious extent, and it was known by messages from Stamford and Deeping that a still further rise in the water might be expected. Consequently it was deemed necessary to commence cradging at certain low portions of the London Road from Little London to the Mansion, and exceedingly fortunate may the inhabitants of that district consider themselves in the early start, because even with this advantage it was only by the merest “shave” that the water was held up. Throughout Saturday night and Sunday large gangs of men were at work heightening the cradge, which would be at least two feet above the level of the crown of the road, and it was only by incessant labour that they were able to keep pace with the rising flood. The wind blew strongly from the north-east, and the effect of this was not merely to hold the water up in the Washes, but also to drive the tides up the river. So strong was the gale that the water beat most furiously against the Deeping High Bank, especially in the neighbourhood of Mr Campain’s and Mr. Clark’s farms, and the waves dashed up against the bank as they do along the sea coast in a heavy gale. At eleven o’clock on Sunday night I found the water still rising. The men and the carts that had been sent from the work at five o’clock had all been sent for again, as well as others and desperate endeavours were made to save the locality. At Water Lane two tunnels blew up, and a steam of water rapidly passed down into a field by the side of the Holbeach Railway, and as the pressure of several cart loads of earth was brought to bear on these tunnels across the road, the road itself in one case was blown up, and had not help been at hand, in a few minutes it would have been perfectly impossible to stop the rush of water. A similar case happened on the Cowbit Road, near Mr Harrison’s workshops. A quick appreciation of the danger and a rapid conveyance of several loads of earth at once removed any fear of inundation. Several gratings were the cause of great anxiety during the night, but the constant watching prevented any serious mishap. At one o’clock this (Monday) morning, I noticed that there was no perceptible rise during the previous hour, and as this was a critical period – hight tide at Fosdyke being calculated at midnight – I n=began to hope with others that the worse had been realised. At four o’clock the cradges had all stood well, and as far as could be observed, there was a slight subsidence of water; at eight the marks registered a fall of at least half an inch. What will now be required chiefly will be a continued watchfulness until the river is below the cradges, when the pressure will be removed from the banks , and all danger of inundation will be past.
It was difficult to realise that the clean, orderly street by the side of the river could so quickly become blocked with the quantity of mud and water as was last night observable on the London Road. Need I add that many opinions were expressed as to the cause of these floods, and the best way to avoid them. I ventured my own opinion that the High Bridge at Spalding was one of the chief obstructions to a free discharge of these waters. One or two very sensible men around me supported my theory, and I imagined that the subject was settled. Suddenly, however, one of the river “salts” who has spent all his life about the Welland, freely ridiculed all we said and intimated that the bridge had very little to do with it! Here was a dilemma. It was not the bridge at all, he said, it was the obstructions below the bridge. Look at the “cess” at the back of the Nag’s Head and in front of the White Lion. Why when he was a boy they used to anchor the vessels close up to the granary walls there. As soon as I recovered from the shock, I enquired whether these freshets would not scour away this “cess” but I was informed that such would not be the case, and as my good friend still had it that the abutments of the High Bridge were not in any way objectionable at the present time, I give in at once , and he went his way conscious that he was a victor in the wordy struggle. This is but one instance of an opinion on the subject, but I heard half-a-dozen others in as many minutes – perhaps they were all as correct and substantial!
The flood waters attracted an enormous crowd of sight-seers on Sunday afternoon, and Pinchbeck Road – that “Vanity Fair” of Spalding – was comparatively deserted. Thousands of spectators passed along either bank, interested in the novel sight. There was not the slightest disturbance or accident, nor has any contretemps of any kind occurred in connection with the dangerous work of cradging. At the time I write the water is gradually subsiding, and if no further heavy rains visit the district all danger of inundation is removed.”[ii]
This entertaining and detailed article was written before photo journalism took over from many words. It is, in my view, important in that it carries many simple messages and lessons about the Fens and the management of the water. The circumstances described have happened before and since this time with varying results. Put simply rain from upstream happens at the same time as tidal surges caused by a combination of high tide and north easterly winds prevent water escaping out to sea. The Fens around Spalding and the other estuaries of the Wash find themselves in a watery sandwich. It also needs to be considered that this area had in this era and many times since experienced great drought. As is the fashion nowadays what we see described here would be heralded as extreme weather and a result of climate change, whilst such words were occasionally used in national and international newspapers of the nineteenth century it was not at that time focused on as today. This is important to consider, as I fear the “climate crisis” is too often used as an excuse not to invest, not to manage change and not to maintain existing facilities. We look at what is wrong with today’s rivers and pollution, but overlook what is right in that we no longer have malaria and cholera – both still active diseases in Britain and in Spalding in 1880.
Looking at the flood of 1880 I pick out the following points. Firstly the author describes very well how the area is subject to water draining from the Midlands from the centre of England through the Fens to The Wash. I have already described this and how the flow of water has increased with the development of urban areas upstream. However, what we have today is a drainage system that in the 2020’s is not that different to the 1880’s. That is sewage and storm water share many of the same channels off roofs and roads through some filters and treatment that becomes overwhelmed in times of excess rain. Today as 140 years ago this water flows at great pace down the Welland, Glen and other rivers leading into the Wash. As there has been greater building upstream we have seen changes downstream in the Fens over the years, for example steam pumps being replaced with diesel pumps and then with electric. More channels being excavated such as the Coronation Channel that circumvents Spalding. Thus we have a race of improvements downstream against further building and water flow from upstream. As it stands in 2024 the area largely benefits from investments made seventy years ago – the time to reinvest is now. But, this will not change the race between upstream development and downstream flood prevention. This will only be seriously resolved by better urban planning. The drainage board engineer John Honnor summed it up as he spoke to me in the early 90’s when he told me that every housing estate and factory should have a pond or a “soak” as he put it to serve as a temporary place to hold water and then have it released over time to prevent downstream being inundated. Otherwise this cycle would never be broken at the expense of the Fens. If this was combined with gravel and reed beds this could also filter and improve water quality.
Yet in 1880, like today, the drainage of the Fens tends to only excite interest when something goes wrong, typically flooding. I imagine that many an official can identify with being “hampered and impeded” by a questioning public. In 1880 communications were poorer with reliance upon manpower to hold back the flood. “Cradging” is when you typically build a second bank in a horse-shoe shape around a breach – such “cradge banks” over the years have created distinctive landmarks in the Fens both on river and drain banks and sea walls. Local names often reflect the “cradge” or “horseshoe”. It is a particular feature of Fenland banks both to inland waterways and sea walls that they consist of wet material – drying out causes shrinkage over time and constant maintenance is required. In reality this is limited by resources. In 1880 the engineer Mr Harrison, was hampered by both being overwhelmed by the task in hand and the communication of where to take action. Even today with improved technology and communication the ability to respond is stunted by availability of men and machines, location and the prioritisation of resources.
In 1880 there were clearly many prepared to give their opinions as to what made the flood worse all based upon local knowledge of their area. The bottle-neck of water through Spalding at High Bridge and silting at various locations are sighted as contributing to the floods. It is likely both. Indeed, the Flood marker for 1880 has been silted over with soil at least three times in my lifetime before being rediscovered. Many times I have heard people say that if need be Spalding will be safe because Cowbit Wash will be flooded before ever Spalding is inundated. However, the author describes Cowbit Wash only too well and in 1880 it was overflowed – the simple fact is that it can only be flooded once and when full the water will continue on the course that nature and gravity dictates.
Since 1952 the flooding of Cowbit Wash has been rare. Originally this land had greater control of flooding through slackers – sluices in the river Bank designed to drain water from the Welland into the Wash in a controlled manner by a locally appointed person opening and closing the slacker. This enables water to rise up from the drains and dykes in the Wash in a more gradual manner and can be used to control the water level on the Wash to the benefit of pasture. This still happens on other Washes[iii], but on Cowbit Wash this system was replaced by siphon that would automatically draw water on and off the Washes as levels rose and fell within the parameter of the siphon’s ability. This siphon requires less local intervention, but does require maintenance. The slackers require great understanding and skill. If a slacker is opened when there is too great a build-up of water the sudden rush of water risks washing it out and breaching the Bank. Likewise the banks themselves, and the drains and dykes on the Washes require maintenance.
In April 1998 there were claims discredited at the time that the siphon had failed when Cowbit Wash flooded through breeches.[iv] These claims were not believed by many with considerable local knowledge. Whilst it is sometimes in the nature of Fenland farmers to disbelieve experts I also sense that this goes both ways and local knowledge is disbelieved. When there was work done some considerable time after this event on the area around the siphon the man working on the site explained to me that when he came to it its “function would have been somewhat impeded” by a build-up of debris. Talking to farmers, nearby residents and police that had cleared the public from Deeping High Bank the Bank was “leaking like a sieve” as water was spurting through rabbit and rat holes on both the Deeping side and the Cowbit Wash side of the Welland.
2024 saw a larger breech of Cowbit Wash – again uncontrolled, but a larger flood happened in this case. Again local knowledge accused centralised bodies of failing them, in this case the Environment Agency.
Elsewhere in Lincolnshire at Short Ferry and Bardney near were considerable floods that have experienced floods from breaches and over-topping and the Environment Agency has enjoyed much criticism from farmers affected. The arguments are understandably raw and great, but there is a pattern of distrust throughout the country of the Environment Agency when it comes to flooding.
The common factor is that there is need for constant re-investment of infrastructure. We tend to be in a world of greater discussion and consultation whereby the reality is that what is needed is leadership, decisions and action. I had one local politician that I respect very well describe this to me, “You have to understand that it takes years to formulate ideas and have everyone around the table to be inclusive.” But my thought as he spoke was , “You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs and upsetting a few people.” The problem I perceive is that the Environment Agency is a public servant that serves many masters and is subject to political whim whether from politicians or pressure groups as well as the law. Part of that is a simple fact that Climate Change is repeatedly quoted as a reason for floods, but as we have seen, the problem in the Fens is not new and the inundations no greater than in the past, say in 1880. However, there is an elephant in the room, and that is the need for massive reinvestment in maintaining and improving what has been built before and no one likes to pay.
I perceive two competing management issues that need to be addresses immediately by decisive action and should not seek to please all. That is the management of water and the management of land.
I will start with the management of land – and this starts way outside the Fens as described by John Honnor’s advice earlier – basically improved planning of all building and developments to slow the rate of flow of water. Simply by applying this principle to all new development and enforcing it is an investment in the future. An example of this is seen in two places in Peterborough: the Tesco’s distribution centre has a huge roof that collects water, to reduce the chance of flood this goes initially into a large pond or reservoir before being released into the drainage network; in the Hampton urban development near the A1 large ponds have been created to act as similar soaks.
The use of Washland varies greatly, but the Bedford levels and Whittlesey Washes are largely grazed pasture managed in a traditional manner that benefits wildlife as well as livestock farmers. Cowbit Wash and Crowland Washes have since 1952 seen ever greater cultivation and are largely farmed with little or no traditional management of pasture and grazing.
Is the solution to actually reduce maintenance and allow what is now farmed to be subject to more seasonal flooding in the same way the Whittlesey and the Ouse Washes are? This is difficult, as part of the role of the countryside is to serve the urban areas by keeping them fed, watered and free from flooding. If this is the case it needs consideration that Cowbit Wash as is does not hold much water as described in detail by the correspondent in 1880. Is it madness to revert highly productive land back in time? The same goes along the sea wall of The Wash on the coast where grade one land can produce multiple crops in a year and feed millions. There is a strong movement that would see a substantial reduction in arable productivity in the Fens. But is it a poor use of resources to reverse the reclamation of fen and marsh of the past?
In contrast to the flood of 1880 is the drought of 1876. This period of time between 1875 and 1878 saw a massive global climate event that was possibly one of the largest El-Nino climate events in the age of printed media and the 1880 flood was almost certainly at the end of this period as global sea temperatures rose and retained heat for at least sixteen months.[v] This caused massive famines in India, China, Africa and South America possibly causing 50 million deaths. This in terms of a global event is comparable to the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. Just read articles of the era and you see major rivers drying up, crop failures and massive losses of livestock to drought. My point in drawing attention to this is not to discredit any climate change argument, but to point out that regardless of what your knowledge, belief or opinion people have there are extreme climate events and this has to be accepted as a fact and the consequences acknowledged as history provides warnings. The management of water is key to the thriving wellbeing and economy of the Fen area and its people.
By August 1876 water supply to the rural villages of the Fens and many of the towns was dire and sales of charcoal filters were great as many suffered cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid and scarlet fever with Thomas Stiles M.R.C.S. the Medical Officer for health issuing a “don’t drink the water” warning and the following advice:
“The poor who are unable to purchase a filter should adopt the following means:
1. Let the water intended for drinking stand in a vessel twenty-four hours exposed to the action of the air, the oxygen of which has a purifying effect, and insoluble vegetable matter subsides. Further benefit would be obtained as much by the immersion in it of a few pieces of charcoal.
2. After such exposure strain the water, or what is far preferable firmly press a piece of clean SPONGE into the neck of a funnel, or into the hole of a large Flower-pot, and let the water pass through it.
3. BOIL THE WATER. Water containing vegetable matter, and what is called “Lousy” after being submitted to the above process, may be drunk with impunity. It is essential that water polluted in the slightest degree with sewage or animal organic matter should undergo filtration.”
That access to drinking water should rely upon personal wealth was unacceptable, and water carriers were deemed to be profiteering as they supplied water in the area. The late 1870’s saw a ready supply of water piped from Bourne and this extended to the wider area in the following decades with most supplies in place by 1890. Spalding and the surrounding area was lucky to have as a director of the Spalding Waterworks Company Mr. Easton, C.E. who was one of the leading experts of water engineering in the Empire and President of the Mechanical Science Section of the British Association. He argued for looking at the big picture of water supply and drainage and how it was funded. He argued vehemently that there should be much spending of public money on water drainage, rivers and supply and that a proper charge be “thrown upon the municipal rates of the area from which the water supply is derived.” It was his knowledge and drive that ensured supply and he was highly regarded in national government, even if not always heeded.
Populations grow. In my childhood in the early 1970’s we would have trips out to look at the Empingham Reservoir site under construction before the reservoir, that was to become Rutland Water, was flooded. This diverted water from the Nene and the Welland and supplies water to the broader East Midlands area.
In 1980 I find the first references to London water supply needing to be sought from further afield and the Fens of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk referred to as a potential source. This is repeated by many experts, advisors, civil servants and politicians in subsequent decades, most of whom have retired, collected honours and/or died with little progress of their thoughts or words with action. In the 2000’s you start to read apocalyptic warnings that industrial activity and building may be curtailed in the Capital and its surrounding area if water supply is not improved. At the same time expansion of the cities of Peterborough and Cambridge is planned – both more drainage and more water required. In 2022 Anglian Water confirms the locations of two proposed reservoirs, one near Chatteris in the Cambridgeshire Fens and the other near Sleaford in Lincolnshire. Actual Acts of Parliament and subsequent construction may see this happening in the 2030’s. But is this quick enough? Will this be looked upon to source London?
At the same time other areas of the Fens look at potential changes to drainage, but as described earlier, it always appears to be playing catch up. If history teaches us anything, whether it be the droughts of the 1876, or the one of 1976 or the floods of 1880, 1947 or 2024 the management of both supply and drainage of water in the Fens requires constant fore-sight, planning and investment on a rolling and not piecemeal basis. The position of farming in the use of water and land has yet to be decided and will be of continuing debate. If I was to have one concern for the future is that “climate change” is not seen as an excuse for inadequate planning and action for as I have demonstrated, these problems are not new.
[i] Source Met Office – interestingly the European Climate agency states a figure of 28 inches as it takes an average between other locations – as with TV transmission the Fens misses out with stations used being located at Waddington, Cranwell, Terrington St. Clement and Cambridge Botanic Gardens – leaving a wide area of the Fens not covered.(see Met Office East of England Climate Data Document 11th October 2016
[ii] Lincolnshire Boston and Spalding Free Press and South Holland Advertiser October 12 1880.
[iii] I have had the slackers demonstrated to me both at Earith and Welney on the Ouse Washes.
[iv] Dr. Jim Marshall stated at the time that the siphon was one inch off being activated. Locals claimed the water was over the height that it should have activated and if the siphon was that high it was not low enough to be effective.
[v] Sources: Michael Marshall New Scientist 30th October 2018
Also: Journal of Climate Change https//doi.org/10.1007/s114343-010-3243-z
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