In my Guisborough days, I would often run a circuit round Westworth Reservoir. This morning, in a fit of nostalgia, I returned to that old stomping ground. How changed it is. The former reservoir bed has given way to a jungle of gorse, now sprawling with abandon, save for a dank, overgrown marsh clinging feebly to the old overflow tower.
The dam was breached in 2002, leaving nature to take her course. If a near-impenetrable mass of gorse qualifies as a “natural” feature, then yes, the scheme has been a success. It was built in 1875 to serve Gisborough Hall and the town; by the 1970s, however, the reservoir had outlived its purpose, though someone thought it might prove handy as a water source for putting out fires in the forestry. This quaint notion held up until the 1990s, by which time the youth of Guisborough had took to setting fires along the shore, ostensibly to dry their clothes after swimming, cook sausages, or otherwise play at being Rambo.
By then, Northumbrian Water found itself in the unenviable position of maintaining this forsaken place. They faced three options: repair the dam, demolish it entirely, or lower its capacity and thereby wriggle out of their legal burden. Lord Gisborough preferred it dry, presumably to reduce its attraction as a swimming spot. The North Yorkshire National Park, in their wisdom, pleaded for a bit of water to stay, citing the “migratory bird habitat,” though a study soon quashed this fantasy by revealing the reservoir’s waters as too acidified to support anything one could sensibly call “life.” Even the County Archaeologist, after an initial fit of enthusiasm for preservation, promptly reconsidered.
Thus, with little more than a shrug, the decision was made to breach the dam, a model of bureaucratic efficiency and economy.
Source
The Discontinuance of Dams – it’s not easy and it can be expensive!
AK Hughes, Anne Evans, and Rob Galloway “Ensuring reservoir safety into the future”. January 2008, pp 345-360
Leave a Reply