Coincidentally i received the following yesterday from Yorkshire Water as im doing a bit of research for an activity for Bradford Science Festival Science of the Brontes .... coming soon :-) These two stone built intakes were built in the 1870s at the head of Ponden Clough. They are designed to take water in a covered conduit to Watersheddles Reservoir which is at the head of the Worth Valley. The Ponden Kirk Catchwater is approximately 2.5 km long and is a covered masonry conduit. It has two main intakes at Middle Moor Clough and Bracken Hill (the masonry intakes), both a short distance upstream from where the two streams combine to form Ponden Clough Beck. The main intakes both consist of masonry structures which the catchwater conduit runs through at ninety degrees to the course of the stream. Water in the stream flows over a sill on the top of the structure and drops into the catchwater culvert. On the front face of each structure there are two overflows which allow excess water in the catchwater channel to flow over to the stream. In times of flood, the excess flow from the stream which cannot be absorbed by the catchwater inlet flows over the top of the structure into the stream. In addition, a short distance downstream from the Bracken Hill intake there is a direct spring intake to the catchwater. None of the intakes have turn out facilities but the catchwater is fitted with three silt traps, each fitted with a manhole access cover and a 6 sluice scour valve which empties the contents of the catchwater at that point to the stream bed in the valley below. The water from Watersheddles Reservoir then feeds Oldfield Water Treatment Works which in turn supplies Oxenhope, Haworth, Oakworth, Hainworth and parts of Keighley. Watersheddles Reservoir was built as a result of The Keighley Waterworks Extension and Improvement Act of 1869 which authorised the construction of both the Watersheddles and Ponden Reservoirs (Ponden was originally only for compensation flows but is now used for drinking water). This Act was to combat the poor condition of the water supply in Keighley at the time. An outbreak of scarlet fever was blamed on the poor water supply and this sadly killed a number of children. Since the construction of the reservoirs and the associated intake structures, such as those at Ponden Kirk, Keighley has benefitted from a safe and secure drinking water supply.
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 08:27:37 +0000
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