RUNNING TO WASTE.

When I came to live in East Cornwall it was inevitable that I would become interested in geology and industrial archaeology. I am surrounded by the remains of all the mining history which made Cornwall famous throughout the world. Walking the “grass” over the surface of these long-abandoned works the evidence stretches far and wide. Not least among these disturbances is the miles of leats, channeling water off the moor or from the streams to provide power for hauling, winding, stamps, etc. Although steam was used, the fuel, coal, would have been shipped across the Bristol Channel to North coast ports. Our presently wooded valley sides would have been denuded of anything combustible early on. There was competition from the tanning industry and for timber. So water power was an integral part of the process.

In the Tamar Valley, near Luckett, leats collect water from side valleys and channel it to wheels at several levels, up to 300ft. above the River. Water from the higher levels would have powered several wheels as it dropped towards the River. So over several hundred feet the same water would have been used two or three times.

On another side stream joining the Tamar at Luckett, a small stream running east from Stoke Climsland had three “mills” on it. This is only a small stream, and yet it was sufficient to power these three mills simultaneously.

    The Kelston Mills brass mill at Saltford Lock on the Avon between Bristol and Bath.

 I grew up on the banks of the River Avon between Bath and Bristol. To make this river navigable up to Bath (and to London via the Kennet and Avon Canal!) five weirs were constructed with locks at each. All of these had a “mill” on one bank, and some had “mills” at both ends. These were substantial power units. Some of the mills had several wheels working at once.

None of these is working now. One has to wonder why. Much of the infrastructure is still there. And anyway, that sort of infrastructure (digging water-tight leats, etc.) would be easy work for a “back-hoe” and plastic culverts or linings.

There are probably two main considerations. The first is that the Water Companies are allowed to charge an “extraction” fee for using the water! Have you heard of anything more ridiculous? Logically then, if the Water Company can charge a fee for extracting the water, the mill owner can charge the Water Company for returning the water to the river!

     A working corn mill at Cotehele, Cornwall.

 The second is scale. Most of our power generation is in the hands of large companies. A small investor can’t build a bio-fuel power station, let alone a nuclear plant. Hydro-electricity requires massive infrastructure as a rule. Whereas water-wheels are generally privately owned. But we have proved with solar power that it is easy for small investors to contribute to the National Grid. Similarly for wind turbines.

 Throughout the British Isles countless leats, ditches, streams and rivers are more or less constantly draining the land; from moors and mountains, hills and dales the water is tumbling towards the sea. Thousands upon thousands of kilowat energy running to waste.

Wind turbines generate when the wind blows. Solar panels generate when the sun shines. Water wheels generate when the water flows. When did the River Avon last stop flowing?

 

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