Springs and Wells Volunteer Day
On Friday 29th October 2021 a group of Rewild Project volunteers gathered at St Anthony’s Well, Longhope - led by Scott Baine, and Cllr Thom Forrester, in conjunction with Forestry England, funded by Foresters Forest Landscape Partnership with the intention of clearing silt from the bottom of the plunge pool to reveal the bluestone at the bottom.
Thom says ‘I remember the pool was cleared around 6 six years ago and the bluestone bottom was visible, it would be a great asset to residents of the forest to make this safe and accessible once again’
A Forestry England crafts team placed a bypass pipe from inlet to outlet at the start of the day and the volunteers attempted to bucket out the remaining water until it was low enough to shovel out the silt.
It took about 2 hours of work from a team of 6 bucket-ers to reveal water seeping in through the walls - and so with a team constantly bucketing to keep water level low, a few more brave souls dived in to remove silt.
By the end of the day about half the silt had been removed and wheelbarrowed away along with an astounding collection of rocks, glasses, precious stones and coins along with the usual undesirable broken glass!
It was at that point the team noticed the unusually high water level around the collection point. Channels were dug to divert the water, but on further investigations the flag stone was lifted and the inlet pipe was cleared of silt and debris which had built up leaving the area completely clear and dry.
‘The day was a huge success despite us not fully completing the task, community spirit was high and we feel we are walking in our ancestors footsteps by coming together to take care of our heritage sacred water source’ Scott Baine, The Rewild Project
The team are consulting with local fire brigade and pond specialists to investigate other means of pumping or siphoning out the water and there have been rumours there is a plug at the bottom of the pool - however there is no way to locate this without first clearing the silt.
The next volunteer day will be on the next full moon - Saturday November 20th all are welcome to come along and get involved. There will be a fire pit, hot drinks and pastries from local workers co-op The Forest Bakehouse.
The Rewild Project would like to thank everyone who has shown an interest, helped in person or offered advice.
Further enquiries to springsandwellsfod@therewildproject.com, Scott Baine 07811517096
