EARBY’S NEW WATER SUPPLY

[Stanley]

EARBY’S NEW WATER SUPPLY

Date: 04 Apr 2005
Topic author: Mixman
Subject: EARBY’S NEW WATER SUPPLY
Posted on: 04 Apr 2005 13:13:47

EARBY’S NEW WATER SUPPLY
A COMMON SOURCE FOR TOWN AND VILLAGE
Earby, a manufacturing town in Craven, with a population of 6000, has for years been struggling to bring itself up to date in the matter of public services, and its task is now well on the way to achievement. In matters of water supply, electric equipment for lighting and power, sewerage, road construction, and bridge building, etc., it has much leeway to make up, but the task is being tackled with a courage worthy of all praise.

The water supply for Earby and its neighbour, Kelbrook, was up to a few years ago in the hands of private companies. When the town advanced to an important position in the cotton manufacturing world, the first duty of the newly created Urban District Council was to acquire the private water rights.
Kelbrook’s supply was from springs at “Harden Nick” and Harden Hall; Earby’s source was on Bleara Moor, where there was a small reservoir. The necessary Parliamentary powers were obtained in 1921, and the council acquired the Earby undertaking by purchase, and have since obtained 350 acres of gathering ground.

The vital necessity for Earby was augmented storage, and a scheme is in course of construction which will provide an adequate storage capacity. That is expected to be completed by the end of December. The contract for the reservoir was secured by Messrs David Thompson and Sons of Carlisle, the amount involved being £12,100. The capacity is considered sufficient for the next 40 years with a developing population. The supplies at Kelbrook and Earby will synchronise, and both will be drawn from simultaneously. In a period of drought there will be no scarcity.

The storage reservoir at Earby is in the form of a basin. It will be lined with concrete. The base is solid rock, which will be covered with twelve inches of concrete. The concrete is being treated with Lake Trinidad asphalt, ensuring an absolutely water-tight artificial reservoir. The walls are of solid concrete and there can be no leakage.

It is a substantial and inexpensive job, and is being supervised by Mr. Harold Prichard, the council’s water engineer, who was appointed after a valuable experience of public undertakings in Lancashire.

The water is from an underground source, headings and adits having been driven into the hill. There can, therefore, be no contamination. On analysis the water has proved to be particularly good, and is absolutely free from plumbo-solvency.

AN AMPLE SUPPLY
The difficulty of giving an immediate supply of water pending the completion of the reservoir has been obviated by a scheme for relaying trunk mains of a larger diameter. These, when laid, will not only guarantee a continuous water supply to all the inhabitants, but will also have a maintained head of over 150 feet heading.

That, in case of fire will be of inestimable benefit, and will enable outbreaks to be coped with without using the fire engine. The contract for the new trunk mains has been let at an estimated cost of £4,200.

The arrangement will be particularly welcome to the Kelbrook district. Hitherto the supplies have been independent of each other, and in cases of temporary failure there was no means of keeping it out. Under the present scheme the levels of the reservoirs will be so arranged that the supply will synchronise.

In the event of a shortage at the sources either at Kelbrook or on the Bleara Moor, it will be a simple matter to augment the supply from the opposite end. It is an ingenious arrangement that the supply will synchronise.
In the event of a shortage at the sources either at Kelbrook or on the Bleara Moor, it will be a simple matter to augment the supply from the opposite end. It is an ingenious arrangement and creditable to the designer.

In the matter of electricity the Earby council is awaiting a bulk supply from Nelson Corporation. This is vitally necessary for power purposes. There are signs that with the advent of electrical equipment industries other than cotton weaving will come into existence.

The council, during the last two years, has been approached by cardboard box manufacturers, laundry proprietors, sweet makers and others, with a view to new spheres of work, but they will require electric power.

In other ways Earby is going ahead, despite trade depression. And in this connection it is interesting to record that during the last two years only one section of a big mill has been closed, and there are standing idle 728 looms out of a total of 8,724 in Earby - a striking contrast to the state of things in Barnoldswick.

Craven Herald
Transcribed by Bob Abel, used with his permission.
These articles also appear on the Earby & District Local History Society web site

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