 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Gosport.info Query |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
Lee-on-the-Solent Water Undertaking |
|
|
Under the Act of 1904 powers had been obtained to acquire the undertaking of the "Lee-on-the-Solent Waterworks Company Ltd.", but the actual transfer did not take place until 1915. The purchase price was £5,280. |
|
|
Lee-on-the-Solent was first developed as a private building estate within the Gosport Area of Supply, but with its own waterworks constructed by the above-named Company, established in 1890. The works were in the High Street at the corner of Cambridge Road. The source was a shallow well, the water being pumped by oil-driven plant into a nearby water tower. Water was first supplied in 1897, and by the time of the transfer in 1915 about 3t miles of mains had been laid, the average daily supply being about 30,000 gallons to 200 properties. The local waterworks went subsequently out of use, the mains being connected to the Gosport distribution system. |
|
|
|
This photo is in both the downloadable versions Word and PDF |
|
|
The threat of a Second World War and the War itself threw an unprecedented strain upon the Company's water resources. By the end of the War the total demand was nearly 21/2 times larger than in 1935; the average daily supply had increased from under 11/2 million gallons to more than 31/2 million gallons. Most of this remarkable increase had come from the many Government Establishments in the Area, whose consumption rose to more than 41/2 times above that in 1935. Other supplies also increased substantially, and in addition much extra water had to be supplied on account of wastage caused by air-raid damage to mains and service pipes and by the lack of labour to deal with normal repairs. |
|
|
It became clear that, with the further extension of the headings at the Soberton Works in 1938, the probable maximum reliable daily yield of about 2 million gallons from that source had been reached; moreover, it was unwise in the event of war to rely wholly upon a single means of supply. In consequence an Act was obtained in 1940 to develop a new independent source at Hoe, about one mile south-east of Bishop's Waltham. |
|
|
The initial works were carried out during 1940-41. They consisted of a deep well in the Chalk, with headings, the water being pumped by two electrically-driven units with a daily capacity of 1 and 2 million gallons respectively, housed in a temporary blast-proof building. A 15-inch pumping main, about two miles long, was laid to the Shedfield Reservoirs. After the War the smaller unit was replaced by another of 2 million gallons capacity, together with a stand-by oil-driven power unit, and a permanent building was erected. The daily yield of the well proved to be at least 11/2 million gallons. |
|
|
In addition to the Hoe Works various other War-precautions were taken. The Foxbury water tower was kept ftiled; an electrically-driven pump was installed at the Bury.Cross underground tank, and an oil-driven pump at the Lee-on-the-Solent well. The private wells at the Gosport Gas Works and at the Inverness Laundry were fitted up to provide a limited supply, and a fleet of mobile drinking water tanks was acquired. In addition, emergency connections were made between the Company's mains and those of its neighbours - the Southampton Corporation and the Fareham Urban District Council. |
|
|
During the War Gosport shared with Portsmouth in the wide-spread damage to water mains caused by the many air raids. The worst experience occurred on the night of 10th/11th January, 1941. During the following three days the loss of water due to broken mains and service pipes and extra water used for fire-fighting was so large as to cause the two Shedfield Reservoirs, which together hold about 6 million gallons, to be nearly emptied. By good luck the essential parts of the new Hoe Works and the pumping main there from were at that time on the point of completion; an emergency effort to make the final connection brought the station into immediate use, thus obviating any curtailment of the supply. Throughout the War all the Company's principal works fortunately escaped damage. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Admin & Research Financial, Admin Assist adminandresearch.co.uk |
||||||||
|
Gosport Office Support Flexible Admin Support www.gosportofficesupport.co.uk |
||||||||
|
- Local adverts |
||||||||
|
|
||||||||