Bucknell, Oxfordshire (1909)

Information Request…

© Copyright Anthony Parkes and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

The above water tower is a Grade II listed building. Built in 1909 by Major Philip Hunloke to serve the Bucknell Manor estate and the village of Bucknell. It was used until the 1950s when mains water was installed. The tower, often referred to as Trow Pool water tower, is very prominent on the M40 between junctions 9 and 10 at SP 54860 24800.

BWTAS member James Clark is writing a book on motorway landmarks and would be very appreciative of any additional information regarding this tower. If you can help James, please email BWTAS: bwtas@hotmail.co.uk

Ferrers

© Copyright Alan Murray-Rust and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Iconic Bracebridge Heath water tower to be demolished

from Lincolnshire Echo:

Landmark water tower to make way for £40 million Bracebridge Heath development

LANDMARK: The water tower at St John's in Bracebridge Heath.

A landmark water tower will be removed from a village near Lincoln as work on the first phase of a £40 million housing development nears completion.

The iconic 90-year-old tower is in the grounds of the derelict St John's Hospital site at Bracebridge Heath.

And it will disappear later this month as developers transform the former Victorian mental asylum into St John's Village.

Phase one of the 183 luxury homes and apartments, including 77 new-build family homes, in the spacious grounds of the 18-acre site will be completed in August.

And Bracebridge Heath Parish Council chairman John Kilcoyne said the demise of the tower was inevitable.

And it is set to be demolished over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, July 12 and 13.

"The parish council accepted that the water tower would not survive the development of the hospital buildings into apartments and houses," Mr Kilcoyne said.

"While we would have liked to keep the tower as a landmark, we realised it was not suitable for a residential development.

"It is also not original to the hospital design, being built in the 1920s, and is not in a good condition.

"The concrete would not last indefinitely, and it was felt better to take it down at this point.

"North Kesteven District Council accepted this when planning permission was granted."

Read the rest of the story http://www.lincolnshireecho.co.uk/

What the parish council and the developers haven't said is this tower is a fine example of early reinforced concrete water tower construction, demonstrating with its lightweight form the huge potential of this then new material and the confidence that civil engineers were beginning to have in it. Barton considers the Bracebridge tower "combines a remarkable slenderness with elegance of form..." p73 The Water Towers of Britain

When innovative materials and techniques become available, no civil engineer wants to 'push the envelope' too far but with Bracebridge, Barton asserts that water towers of the 1920's started to have a  "certain resonance with the spirit of the age and gave rise to a number of remarkably bold reinforced concrete structures... which it is doubtful would have been built at a later date".

Built circa 1924, the tower is 125 feet tall with footings remarkably only five feet deep.

The 22ft 8in diameter tank holds 30,000 gallons and is supported on six slightly splayed legs spreading to a diameter of only 23 feet at the base.

http://www.ukurbex.co.uk/

According to English Heritage (who reference Barton) the tower was built by Charles Horobin of the Indented Bar and Concrete Engineering Company but it did not meet the criteria for listed status as the attendant laundry had been previously demolished.

Ely good news

From  the Ely Standard

Hundreds of thousands to be spent on water tower upgrades

Ely Water Tower

Daniel Mansfield Sunday, October 6, 2013
11:43 AM

  

The water towers in Ely and Haddenham are to undergo a £750,000 refurbishment to sure up the water supply in the area for the next decade.

Anglian Water will carry out essential maintenance and upgrades over the next three months, with the towers planned to be back in service in December.

The towers, which jointly hold more than five million litres of water and serve nearly 10,000 homes and businesses in Ely and Haddenham, will be renovated using a number of innovative technologies including a new lining which moulds to the inside of the building. This means the water tank itself does not need to be replaced.

Anglian Water said superficial work to the outsides of the tanks would also be carried out if required.

Paul Naylor, regional supply manager for Anglian Water, said: “It’s vital the treated water stored in these towers continues to be protected for decades to come. We’ve already started the necessary preparation work and the use of new innovations, like the liner, will help us to complete the work efficiently.”

The two projects are part of Anglian Water’s overall investment programme. This year the company has announced it will spend £466 million on maintaining and improving its equipment and services.

The £64,000 question...

From The York Press http://www.yorkpress.co.uk of 25th September 2013

http://www.eddisons.com

A water tower next to the A64 in York has been sold at auction for £64,000 – more than double the highest amount it was expected to fetch.

The Yorkshire Water structure at Askham Bryan went under the hammer at Leeds United FC’s Elland Road ground (on 18th September) at a sale handled by auctioneers Eddisons. Its guide price was between £20,000 and £25,000.

The water tower, in Mill Lane, is currently let to Vodafone and TV York, which pay combined annual rent of almost £12,500 for the use of buildings at the site, and the firms must give six and three months’ notice respectively if they want to leave.

According to a post on the urban exploration site 28 Days Later, the now disused tower had about 1 million litres capacity and is 30 metres high. It was photographed inside with permission. It appears to be a ferro-concrete open legged type of the Mouchel pattern.

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/other-sites/61485-water-tower-york.html

The question is naturally, what will the owner do with it now? The sale was only the tower and no surrounding buildings or land so making redevelopment unlikely. Should we Askham Bryan?

Ten Famous Belgians

There's a British pub-quiz perennial: name ten famous Belgians. Of course you lose a point if you name the fictional Hercule Poirot. What isn't fictional is that the tiny plucky country dispensed with government for over year and nobody revolted so evidently it is a very civilised place. It also has a wealth of water tower culture, something BWTAS posits is not unrelated.

Charleroi, Belgium 11/25/1990
Id: BW-6090-7-25.11.1990

Gallery of more Belgian industrial water towers

Near Antwerp is a stunning converted water tower house designed by architect Jo Crepain of Crepain Binst Architecture. The Moereels House is located in Brasschaat.

Chateau d’eau is a remarkable home made from a reclaimed water tower in the small town of Steenokkerzeel. 

Read more: Water Tower Transformed Into Minimalist Modern Home.

The water tower below is in Tienen in the Flemish part of Belgium and is by Architect Ortwin Deroo. It's 46 meters high with a viewing platform.

There are many more on this excellent gallery of Belgian Water Towers.

However, Mrs Benjamin of Suffolk sent BWTAS this week an image taken on her Eurostar city break to Bruge. It's located at 51.080935,3.114796

Mrs Benjamin wrote: Deze is voor je – de watertoren van Tourhout.  De waterbedriif is Vlaamse Maatschappij voor Watervoorziening.

(This is for you, the water tower of Tourhout. The water company is VMW)

Interestingly, this tower doesn't appear in the previous galleries so it seems there must be plenty of water towers in Belgium left to document. Happy hunting!

With a lack of information about Tourhout water towers, the only notable thing we found about Tourhout is that it produced Sylvie De Caluwe. OK, we were kind of distracted from searching much further but we hope she will one day earn a place on a list of very famous Belgians.

Sylvie De Caluwé

Score a point if you said:

Audrey Hepburn
Eddy Merckx
Adolphe Sax
Herge (George Remi)
Plastic Bertrand
Peter Paul Rubens
Rene Magritte
Leo Baekeland
Liz Claiborne

That's only nine? Oh, poor Belgium but we British think your water towers are more than enough compensation.

Amlwch, Anglesea, Wales (1953)

image courtesy of David Blackburn

The third of a trio of idustrial water towers is this 100,000 gallon tower, built in 1953 as part of a bromine and dibromoethane production plant. The water tower stored fresh water for process work, from local sources. The tower comprises two concentric cylindrical tanks, of 33ft 6in and 23ft 8in diameter respectively, arranged around the 5ft in diameter service shaft that extends below the tank and provides its sole means of elevation. The plants was owned by “The Associated Ethyl Company Limited”. In 1961 the name changed to “The Associated Octel Company limited”. The factory closed in 2005 and has since been purchased by the American energy company “Canatxx” who have plans to convert it into a LNG terminal for gas brought by tanker from the Middle East. The water tower is located at SH 44502 93547.
Dibromoethane was very effective in preventing the build up of lead inside engines, when Tetraethyl lead is added to petrol to prevent pre-ignition. In the late 1990’s the Amlwch site was taken over by “Great Lakes Chemicals limited”. The site moved away from producing DBE for petrol into producing Bromine and Bromine intermediates for use in a wide range of consumer products such as Pharmaceuticals, Dyes, Flame retardant, agrochemicals and water purification systems.

Ferrers

Soup Tower chairman reflects on icon of Kings Lynn

Lynn: Tower loss is a blasted waste






CAMPBELL'S SOUPS TOWER A trip down memory lane Raymond Monbiot sifts through photographic memories of his time as UK chairman of Campbell's Soups. On the right of the picture is the Ogilvy Award which was won by the King's Lynn UK factory in 1984-85. The first time it was had been awarded to a factory outside the United States




Published on Thursday 26 January 2012 08:56




A former UK chairman and chief executive officer of Campbell’s Soups regards the destruction of the company’s iconic water tower at Lynn as a piece of town planning vandalism.




Raymond Monbiot, who still lives close to Lynn, ran the company for most of the 1980s though he was quick to emphasis his view was no criticism of Sarah Griffiths who was chosen to set off the charges that brought down the tower.




“They have removed an icon. The company did a lot for the town. They brought wealth and employment to King’s Lynn.”




He remembers when the tower was a flagship on the edge of The Fens. “When it was built in 1958 it was surrounded by green fields. Now it is surrounded by large stores and supermarkets.”




Campbell’s, a company with factories across the world, decided to site their first factory in Europe in the UK, some 3,000 miles from their head office in the United States. They chose King’s Lynn for their head-on battle for the British market against giants in the business like Heinz, Cross and Blackwell and Batchelor’s.




He said: “They came to King’s Lynn because of the clean air, clean water and the quality of the local produce.”




Monbiot was made UK chairman of Campbell’s in 1982 and later, in the mid-eighties, his responsibilities were increased when they opened a second factory in Salford in Lancashire. Such was the success of the two factories that the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, visited Salford to emphasise the importance to her government of the success of the American company’s entry into the British market.




During his time at the helm of the company there were 500 or so employers at Lynn.




Another important reason for choosing the town was that staff were ‘food friendly’.




“They came from an agricultural background and were well used to handling fresh produce.”




Many of the vegetables arrived at the factory with Fenland soil still clinging to them.




“In the factory there was always a wonderful smell of fresh food. We were a real quality food company,” he recalls.




But he also remembers the tight hold the parent company kept on its factories around the world.




He was inundated with books which detailed how to run the business.




“Even the pile of thick index books reached the ceiling. I never read them!”




Monbiot believes he was Campbell’s first British chairman and he used his long experience in the food industry to make sure their venture into the UK was success.




This was largely founded on their condensed soups which a survey discovered were used by eight out of 10 customers as sauces in their cooking, rather than purely as soups.




Emphasising this use was an innovation that helped increase the company’s share of the UK market from six per cent to 17 per cent and had the twin benefit of winning Lynn the company’s Ogilvy Award for success in 1984-85, the first time it had been presented to a factory outside the United States.




This success also meant that Monbiot had more autonomy that most chairman around the world.




“I was tactful but I was determined to run the business my way.”




But the destruction of the water tower marks the sad end to a company Monbiot believes did so much for Lynn.




Its height and size ensured that there was a constant and secure supply of clean water at the right pressure which was used copiously in all stages of the food process including being steam-heated to sterilize everything.




The destruction of the tower removes the last significant landmark of a local company that is a worldwide household name.




“Attempts were made to make the tower a listed building but they failed – I think by the Civic Society. I’m very sorry to see it go”




Now he has are only photographic memories of a company that was once the beating heart of the Lynn food industry


Lifted with apologies from Lynn News for preservation http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/environment/lynn_tower_loss_is_a_blasted_waste_1_3449419

Tower hunting in British Columbia

While on vacation in British Columbia this month I was given a driving tour of the sights of the city of Victoria. When we stopped at Government House intending to eat our sandwiches in its splendid gardens, the cooler we had brought along was empty. The sandwiches had been made but left behind on the kitchen counter; the cook thinking the driver would pack them, the driver thinking the cook had packed them. While we made do with the dessert, my companions asked if there was anything in particular I wanted to stop and look at. A few minutes earlier I had glimpsed a water tower atop a distant hill so I said, if they didn't mind, that I'd like to take a look. "But", I warned them, "towers are shy creatures. If you go looking for them, they tend to run away..." 


After stopping at the marvellous outdoor retailer Mountain Equipment Cooperative, we surmised from our map it must lie in the region of the Craigdarroch Castle so we headed there. Navigating the one-way system we came to the coal mine owner's mansion - scene of a legendary and lengthy family dispute - which is now a museum and walked around outside but were unable to see the tower from this vantage point. "It saw us coming" I told my companions. The 'castle', though imposing, is more a sandstone pastiche of Scottish laird and Disney fairytale but it was impressive that every window, including sash ones, and each door was carved to follow the curve of the turrets, a 'hang the cost' detail but with admission costing $13 pp, I have no doubt their upkeep is expensive.


The mansion is in the area called Rockland which was once Victoria's 'Nob Hill' and now an open-top English bus plys guided tours pointing out the mock-Tudor piles of other migrants who made their fortunes in lumber, furs, coal and construction in this last frontier and bastion of the British Empire. Though we couldn't see it, I suspected the elusive tower must be nearby as we were on a plateau and the tower must have been constructed to serve all these grand homes. We set off down the hill to backtrack to where I had first seen the tower, hoping that then we could then turn around and stalk towards it like a game of Grandmother's Footsteps. 


Perhaps it felt like only playing peek-a-boo with us because as we drove away, we suddenly saw it looming over some houses. It was then a case of my jumping out with a camera to capture a view and try to find a way to walk to its base while my companions waited in the car, as they did not want to enrich the city with a parking fine nor be an accessory to any inadvertent trespass. Besides, a large party would likely scare it off again. It was a process of elimination in going up successive driveways, each tantalisingly appearing to lead to the base, to find the one which its attendants must have used to reach the door.


The tower sits rather dilapidated and unused in the garden of a old mansion which is now apparently a multiple rental/condo. Given that access to the tower must have some easement over the driveway, I ran up to the base to log the tower on my GPS device. We then quickly took our leave to visit one of Victoria's many coffee shops, the boho-style Tooks on Cook we had passed earlier. Here very satisfactory sandwiches and slice of quiche with a salad was not as elusive.


View MEC to tower expedition in a larger map


Tower Location: Laural Lane, Victoria B.C. Canada.
Built: 1908. Decommissioned: 2000 
Height: 33.22 m.
Capacity: 412,330 litres. 


The tower is an unreinforced 25.4 cm. thick concrete cylinder of 6.71 m. inside diameter, 21.34 m. high, supporting a 11.89 m. high water tank of equal diameter. This is a balancing reservoir. The tower can be clearly seen from the ocean and has been used as an navigation aid by small craft.


The 128-foot water tower was built by the famous contractor Henry Kaiser. In 1962, to commemorate the centenary of Victoria, the tower was topped by a 22-foot tall neon flame, which burned for over 25 years.


From Victoria Heritage Foundation


 With Victoria’s population growing rapidly, the city water supply was quickly becoming inadequate, and 1909 saw construction of a 100,000-gallon concrete water tower. This must have seemed unsightly, among the villas and Garry oak meadows at one of the highest points of Rockland, but, along with the Smith Hill Reservoir, it constituted a stop-gap project to supply Victorians with water until the new system at Sooke Lake was built. The area around the water tower was known locally as Observatory Hill.

It featured a large, Queen Anne house called Observatory Villa with a 3-storey tower and a small observatory, which was built by amateur astronomer Oregon Columbus Hastings in 1890 (915 St. Charles Street, demolished). By 1903, the lane leading to the observatory had been officially named Observatory Hill.

The Zandvoort towers

From this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to This.

During World War II, our water towers were not attacked by enemy action, as we now know, the Luftwaffe used these landmarks as aid to navigation - the Dutch were not so lucky. The elegant, reinforced concrete tower on the left, by architect J. van Poelgeest and dating from 1912, was blown up on 17^th September 1943, by the occupying forces.

A new 48 metre high water tower that has a brick façade covering its reinforced concrete structure, was erected between 1949 and 1951 from a design by J. Zietsma. It was originally conceived as a round tower but ended up being an octagonal. The tower with two tanks with a total volume of 209,000 gallons came into service in 1952.

Images of construction of the reinforced concrete tower may be found here. The new tower is located at 52º 22' 13" North, 4º 31' 30" East, the old tower was located about ¼ mile to the North.

Any body who has more information on these towers, please leave a comment.

Ferrers

Church Langley, Harlow: The 'M11 Water Tower'

Considering the number of times it is mentioned to BWTAS, the editors of this blog have been remiss in telling readers that the Church Langley water tower near Harlow has had its own website for some time.


www.m11watertower.org.uk


Famous for its prominent position next to the M11 motorway and a frequent site for charity abseils, this striking 'bowl in hand' form tower was completed in 1993, making it one of - if not the - last public supply water tower constructed in Britain. 


The site's author is one of the original construction workers and would like to hear any stories about the tower.

Anger at homes covered by water tower demolition dust

The demolition of the Brightlingsea water tower has angered its neighbours, not because of the loss of what could have been converted into a useful amenity but because the dust created by the demolition contractor - who is apparently not using any dust suppression methods such as water hoses or shielding - is raining down on their homes, cars and gardens.

Concrete dust contains high concentrations of silica which can irritate the lungs and if exposure is great enough it can cause silicosis.

Wikipedia says out that the concrete dust released after earthquakes (and ins other disasters such as in the 9/11 attacks) has shown to have detrimental health effects and should be considered hazardous.

From the Daily Gazette

RESIDENTS say their homes and street are being covered with concrete dust from the demolition of a water tower.

They claim the powder has covered everything from plants to their cars and they have to keep the windows shut because the problem is so bad.

The disused water tower, in Church Road, Brightlingsea, is being pulled down in preparation for a new residential development.

Demolition work has been under way for a couple of weeks and is expected to last another month.

Householders told the Gazette something needed to be done to stop the residue affecting them.

Muriel Jefford, 80, who lives next to the site, said: “I’ve had to park my car in the car port and keep it covered up because there has been so much dust.

“The whole road is covered in concrete and obviously we’re breathing it in whenever we go outside.

“The problem is not the building that will take place there, it’s the way the demolition is being done, with no shielding.”

Neighbour Elizabeth Scott, 79, lives opposite the water tower with her husband Ian, also 79, and said: “The dust is horrendous.

“We have to keep our windows closed, but it’s still getting indoors.

“I’m worried about the health and safety aspect too.

“There are hundreds of children walking past every day on their way to the Colne Community School nearby and there’s no protection for them.”

Elvanite Recycling, based at Hythe, Colchester, is carrying out the demolition.

General manager William Bailey did not want to comment.

Tendring Council said it had received one complaint about dust from the water tower site, on March 21.

Nigel Brown, the council’s communications manager, said: “One of the officers in environmental services went out to speak to the contractor, which had already stopped work as it recognised it did not have the correct dust suppression equipment.”

He said the council was not aware dust was still an issue, but would send an officer back, to speak to the company and try to resolve any problems.

Bye Bye Brightlingsea

Word has come to BWTAS that the water tower at Brightlingsea, Essex is being demolished to make way for a housing development.


Brightlingsea is better known for Bateman's Tower a folly built in 1883.

Demolition image from Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/petejk1994/5556440528/in/photostream/


We don't know when the water tower was built but the plans  in the Essex Record Office say it was designed by Broderick & Partners, civil engineers.

Minutes from Brightlingsea Town Council:

563. PLANNING APPLICATIONS:

The following applications had been received by Tendring District Council:

10/00743/FUL Roundwood Restorations, Brightlingsea Water Tower, Church Road, Brightlingsea – Demolition of the existing Water Tower and machinery replaced with development of 11 houses on the old Water Tower site, Church Road, Brightlingsea

Brightlingsea Town Council consider this application to be a great improvement on the previous applications and have no objection to this one but would like the District Council to take into consideration the following observations (that include representations of local residents):-

• The non hazardous removal of the Water Tower.
• There could be serious traffic problems due to car parking in Church Road.
• The sight of dwellings at three stories is too tall.
• The hedgeline should be lengthened along Lodge Road to the south western corner to improve landscaping and screening.
• The hedgeline along Church Road in front of the dwelling facing the road would improve the street scene, landscaping and improve the problem of overlooking.
• The nearby residents would like prior notification as to when this development is likely to start please.

Chateau d'eau Montmartre

Founder member Brian Light sent BWTAS a postcard while on holiday:

Our weekend in Paris via Eurostar included this gem which of course had not impinged on my conciousness twenty years ago when I was last there. Directly behind the Sacre Coeur atop the hill at Montmartre sits the water tower, obviously still in use, every bit as majestic as the three domes of that edifice.

The Paris water company puts its phone number on signs at the base of the water tower so a search for 0974 506 507 found this interesting page and the delightful knowledge that the French recognise their significant contribution to water engineering and now offer tours of the Parisian 'water route'. 

Translated from original website with the help of Google:

Launched in April 2008 by Eau de Paris in partnership with five specialized agencies, the program "Water Courses in Paris" aims to offer the public, especially users in Paris, a historic tour of Paris and its neighborhoods with water as the theme. Major parts of Parisian water heritage such as Fountain House, the North Views of the Sources or large storage tanks built at the time of Belgrand are part of the program.

The tour traces the history of water in Paris since the Romans, who built in the second century the first waterworks in Paris by the Aqueduct Lutece up the most modern facilities currently in operation.

These visits make the public aware of the value of fresh water through centuries of inventions and efforts made over time to supply the city. By understanding where water comes from, its history and how it is produced and distributed today, the value of water infrastructure can be understood by public and at the same time, the works and memory of men and women who have worked for the water supply of Paris.

Tours require registration, please contact:

the Water Pavilion at 01 42 24 54 02 or email: pavillondeleau@eaudeparis.fr

Free tours 

Participation in the water tour is now free. 

Each tour lasts approximately 2:00 hours. The hikes last about 3:00. 

Children must be accompanied by an adult. 
Pets are not allowed. 

Advance registration for some of the water tour is mandatory for safety.

This concerns mainly visits giving access to the inside of old buildings or still active water infrastructure.

Download the brochure of the Water Course (in French) .

Going for a Burton

A disused concrete water tower at Burton Green in Warwickshire is for sale as freehold by auction on July 1, 2009

If you fancy bidding on this one-of-a-kind property contact mat.harris@kingsturge.com or jason.birch@kingsturge.com.

Details from Coventry Telegraph

Water tower for sale

Severn Trent Water is disposing of 420 properties over the next 18 months including a water tower next to Manor Cottage in Pebworth, Worcestershire at an auction on July 1 in London.

Selling agent Jason Birch from Kings Sturge Savills (Nottingham), expects the land to go for around £20,000 to £25,000.

He said: “It is big enough for a detached house to go on, but that depends on planning permission.”

BWTAS are waiting for more details and will put them here when we have them.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/l3wcm8

Savills
9 Fletcher Gate
Nottingham
NG1 1QQ
Tel: +44 (0)115 934 8000
Fax: +44 (0)115 934 8001/002
Email: nottingham@savills.com

Water tower turned into veterans' memorial

It seems appropriate on the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings to bring you this story:

Retired US Marine Howard Flexor moved to Dudley, Massachusetts USA two years ago. He settled in a beautiful home with a great view reaching as far as Connecticut. The only problem was the house sat directly across the street from the town's water tower (actually just a raised storage tank as far as we can tell, Ed.)

Howard, a Vietnam veteran, went to the Dudley Water Department and asked their permission to paint a special message on the tower out of his own pocket.

He says he wanted to make sure that veterans were not forgotten. The town agreed because it was a free paint job for the tank which would cost then $3000 otherwise and you can't argue against a case of Dudley Do-right (sorry).

We only wonder, with such a big canvas, why only paint a tiny part of it? We would guess his budget couldn't stretch to employing Hennig Mural Design who specialise in disguising or enhancing metal storage tanks with clever murals. Can we bring this firm to Buncefield?

NECN.COM Video Story

Kimberly Clark tower at Northfleet

Industrial archaeologist Karl Hulka tells BWTAS he had the pleasure of going up this tower just before Christmas under the guise of photographing the adjacent site for one his professional historic building recording jobs.

It is the Kimberly Clark Water Tower in Northfleet, Kent.

The work he is doing on the cement factory next door suggests a construction date of the early to mid 1950s but one with a totally glazed case around the shaft in the UK hasn't come to our attention before. The enclosed space was originally used as offices and store rooms and a later electric lift has been inserted to give access to all but the top floor (7th) and tank. We look forward to learning more.

Welney, Norfolk (1936)

Norfolk's most Westerly public supply water tower has been sold for £11,750. What is to happen to this tower is unknown, but we know its history: Messrs. G. F. W. Bedford sold the 32’ x 32’ plot of land to Anglian Water Services Ltd. on the 16th November 1935 for the construction of the water tower, for the Isleham water supply. The reinforced concrete tower came into use in 1936. An unusual feature is the access to tank is via a ladder and through a triangular hole in the tank, through to the roof. The tower has not been used for a considerable time and was sold by Anglian Water in June 2006. The new owner was unable to develop the tower commercially for bird watching, so put the tower up for sale in early 2007 with a guide price of £50,000. In 2008 the tower featured on the front cover of “The Welney Parish Action Plan” delivered to every household in the Parish - a strange choice, as the Parish Council had previously said they thought it was an eye-sore that ought to be demolished! On the 25th February 2009, the tower sold for £11,750 beating the guide price of £3,000-£5,000 at Cheffins auction. Located to the West of Main Street at O.S. Grid Ref TL 52576 93890, Capacity unknown.

Roy Rowe: structural engineer

One of the world's leading experts on concrete structures has died.

Roy Edward Rowe was responsible for helping to develop the engineering expertise that made it possible to build lightweight concrete bridges and elevated roadways that revolutionised Britain’s highways from the late 1950s.

One of his projects was the Aswan Dam. BWTAS have no evidence yet Mr Rowe worked on specific water towers but he literally wrote the books on building bridges and water tanks with reinforced concrete so some credit must go to him for a signficant influence on water towers. Times Obituary

No offence meant but he was also a dead ringer for Alec Guinness no?

Another concrete water tower for sale

You wait for one to come on the market and then suddenly there's two of them...

This reinforced concrete water tower in Norhamptonshire is on the market for £100,000

A rather plain and common type with not much room on the ground floor and it will need an inventive architect to work out window placement without making it look uglier than it is now.

BBC video here

Report in the Northants Evening Telegraph:

Turn this into your dream home for £100,000

Published Date: 14 January 2009

By Will Ockendon

Who would live in a water tower like this? You could if you have £100,000 to spare.

The tower used to contain several thousand gallons of water but is now set to be someone's des res.

The disused structure in Great Doddington is up for sale at a recommended price of £100,000, along with planning permission to convert it into a residential property.

Although it is one of the more unusual properties that estate agent King West of Northampton has dealt with, they say they have already received interest from several potential buyers.

Andrew Kilburn of King West said: "It is not often you see something like this on the market.

"It is going to be a very contemporary property – very individual."

Standing in Cut Throat Lane just outside the village, the building would make an unusual property for a buyer who is prepared to put the work into converting it into a home.

Although the concrete tower looks grey and faceless, the estate agent believes that with windows put in and a roof extension added it could become a trendy 21st century home.

Mr Kilburn said: "You can imagine an artist or someone like that living there. The top floor will be so light and airy.

"It is not going to suit your run-of-the- mill buyer. It is will suit somebody looking for something very individual and a little bit quirky."

Architectural plans show the building could be converted into a four-floor home with an entrance hall, shower and bedroom on the ground floor, a bedroom and bathroom on the first floor, kitchen and dining room on the second floor, and a living room, with an impressive view, on the fourth floor.

Wellingborough Council approved planning permission for conversion of the tower to a single dwelling in September.

Water tower conversions are not unknown, with one red brick example already in existence in Finedon.

• Last Updated: 14 January 2009 8:13 AM
• Source: Northants Evening Telegraph
• Location: Kettering