Author: Jim Hunt

This author has written 67 articles

The South West Water Hosepipe Ban’s First Birthday

In the summer of 2022 South West Water announced their first hosepipe ban of the current drought on August 15th:

From 00:01am on 23 August 2022, customers who get their water from us in Cornwall and a small part of Devon will not be allowed to use a hosepipe.

It’s the first time in 26 years but we’ve been left with no other choice. We need to have a hosepipe ban now to protect our precious water.

On April 18th 2023 an extension to the temporary use ban was announced:

South West Water is urging customers to reduce non-essential water usage by extending the Temporary Use Ban, otherwise known as a hosepipe ban, which is already in place in Cornwall and parts of North Devon, to other parts of Devon. 

The restrictions are being introduced to protect supplies following lower than average levels of rainfall last year and throughout February. 

The hosepipe ban will apply to customers in South West Water’s Roadford supply area and will come into effect from Tuesday 25 April 2023 at 00:01.  

While South West Water has taken every precaution to prevent further restrictions being required, Cornwall, Devon and the Isles of Scilly remain officially in drought status as declared by the Environment Agency.    

Reservoir levels fell to their lowest recorded level last year and storage at Roadford Lake is currently around 27% lower than it was at the same time in 2022, the equivalent to nearly 3,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

It’s raining here in West Devon yet again this morning, as the first anniversary of the imposition of the continuing hosepipe ban rapidly approaches:

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West Devon Boatbuilder Sails the Northwest Passage

In 2012 Will Stirling from Buckland Monachorum literally and metaphorically launched his wooden cutter Integrity at the Plymouth Mayflower Marina. According to Classic Boat magazine:

The 62 ft / 18.9 m (LOS)  larch on oak, 1880s-inspired, gentleman’s yacht is due to debut at the British Classic Yacht Club regatta in July. Will has spent two years building Integrity which represents a departure from the replica Pilot Cutters that have been the standard wooden replica yachts from various British boatbuilders in recent years.

Our first impressions were a bit: wow! The lines of the 7 berth yacht are very sweet on the eye. She seems destined for the Med regattas or maybe the Caribbean where she would not look out of place among her ‘original’ sisters. Classic yacht broker Barney Sandeman (selling her) agreed that her £300,00 (sic) price tag was probably a bargain, but Stirling’s view is that as a first yacht of her type she acts as a prototype for what he is trying to achieve. He was joined by four boatbuilders who had helped him on the project.

However, according to a more recent article in Classic Boat, written by Will Stirling himself, thoughts of the Caribbean couldn’t have been further from his mind:

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A Trip to Meldon Reservoir

A fine evening was forecast yesterday, so we jumped into Lisa, our trusty albeit ageing Nissan LEAF electric vehicle, and headed for the car park at Meldon Reservoir:

Leaving the dam for later we left Lisa in the car park and set off down the River Okement valley. Here’s what we found once we eventually reached the river:

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An Electrified Trip to Bideford

We’d never been to Westward Ho! before. Or Bideford for that matter! Hence we decided to combine business with pleasure and visit them both this afternoon.

Our conveyance for the day was Lisa, our trusty Nissan LEAF electric vehicle. She planned on taking the shortest route to Bideford, but that road was “closed”. Hence we were all forced to take a detour in the direction of Holsworthy. Lisa’s first stop was in the Torridge Council car park. Two non electric council vans were visible, but no electric vehicle charging stations were to be seen. For use by either council or visitor EVs:

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Is the end nigh for the hosepipe ban in West Devon?

I’ve been following the current drought in West Devon and Cornwall for many months. I was interviewed on the subject by the BBC in March, and by the Daily Telegraph in June. I took this photograph of Roadford Lake on June 1st:

and this one on June 24th for comparison purposes:

Earlier today, in the midst of Storm Antoni, I took this one of the same location:

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Continue ReadingIs the end nigh for the hosepipe ban in West Devon?