1934 Water Mains Laid in Villages

Also click Water to choose from 10 articles telling the full story of how mains water was brought up to the hills, recollections of living here before mains water got here.

and click 1934 Lacey Green Water in the News and the uproar when Fleet Street reported Lacey Green water to have caused people to die.

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Harry Floyd Tells Rosemary Mortham about the Coming of Mains Water.

The digging of the water mains began in 1932.   Harry can remember digging the trenches to lay the pipes to Stocken Farm and some of the surrounding fields.   He was helped by George Maunder, father of Flo, whose husband, Frank Gomme, was landlord of the “Black Horse”.   George had previously worked for Harry’s grandfather, William Saunders, at Smalldean Farm.

The pipes were laid two feet six inches deep to avoid freezing.   However, in the winter of 1947 the mains did freeze up.   The Black Horse and surrounding properties were without water for weeks on end.

Most of the mains were laid by Irish navvies.   One of their foremen, a Mr H. Harry (or Harold) Lloyd lodged with Mr Ronnie Lacey at a house near the Whip.

The pipes were made of cast iron and were heavy to handle.   The acid nature of the local clay soon caused corrosion, and the village suffered frequent “burst pipes”

Harry thinks that Main Road was tarmacked at that time, although he can still remember collecting stones to make up the road when he was young, and the stones being flattened with a steamroller.