I'll bet a lot of you would be hard pressed to identify Crow Nest Syke and tell me where it is. If so you are forgiven, it's one of the small but important watercourses that carry drainage water away in Barlick. I know, I am fixated on water since Boxing Day but bear with me, this is important for various reasons. It carries surface water away from the Long Ing area and Eastwood Bottoms eventually delivering it into Stock Beck in Victory Park below the town from whence it proceeds to the Irish Sea via the Ribble Basin. You could be forgiven if you missed it even though you were five feet from it. It's an insignificant rivulet in a ditch and has been long neglected.
However... on Boxing Day it claimed attention because its waters threatened to flood the industrial units in Havre Park and further down towards Skipton Road. The problem was that where it enters a culvert to get under Skipton Road it was choked with rubbish to the extent that the water couldn't get away. Like the Gill sports field problem it was only action by locals diverting encroaching water that saved the situation but it was a close run thing.
You may remember that towards the end of last year I was singing the praises of our Town Team Volunteers for their efforts on behalf of the town centre. I have to tell you that while all the official agencies were ignoring the problem, they had a bit of a think and did something about it.
Their first problem was gaining access to the stretch that was giving the problem, it was behind a very efficient security fence and a locked gate and the problem was that nobody could lay their hands on the key. They got to the point where they were going to break the lock off and force entry when some bright spark suggested dismantling a section of fence. That done they had to clear the entrance to the culvert and when they had done this the Council came in and cleaned the rest of that section out. Problem solved, fence replaced and my picture shows what the end result is. The water of the Crow Nest Syke has clear access to the perfectly serviceable culvert under the road and with a minimum of maintenance the problem should not arise again.
I think you might know why I raised this matter. It reinforces what I said before Xmas, that there is in Barlick a wonderful undercurrent of voluntary service and self help which makes such a difference. We saw people cooperating at Gill Fields on Boxing day to avert flooding, we have another instance of it here. When David Cameron bent our ear about his mythical 'Big Society' I don't think he had flood relief measures in mind but being Barlick, that's the way this town works. I think it's wonderful and I shan't forget it!
The Syke at Crow Nest after it had been cleaned out.
