Beneath
Birchall Allotment Field
Birchall allotment
field lies in the valley to the north of Cranbrook Road, Redland, Bristol.
In the autumn of 1986
Bristol City Council closed most of the allotment field in order to
construct a detention tank for Wessex Water.
Plot holders were relocated to Golden Hill for the duration of the
works.
The article in the
Bristol Evening Post of September 1989 entitled;
“Stream
of filth probe;
Bristol City
Councillors will take a close look at a nuisance area tomorrow to see remedy
work being carried out.
A stream behind
Cranbrook Road, Redland, has been hit by flooding and pollution over many
years. Last month the
council poured in 45 gallons of disinfectant in a bid to stop smells from
raw sewage resulting from a blockage in another part of the drain system.
On behalf of Wessex
Water Authority the council is building a £1.25 million tank to hold storm
water which might otherwise flood the stream. The tank, due for completion
next year, will be able to hold more than 1.7 million gallons.
Members of Bristol City
Council’s public works committee will view the site of the detention tank
works after visiting an exhibition for residents.
When the tank is ready the stream now flowing openly past
neighbouring gardens will be culverted. Invitations
have been sent to 63 families living next to the stream to visit the
exhibition at Trinity United Reformed Church and see how their complaints
should be brought to an end.”
The tank itself was
covered in many feet of gravel and good quality pasture topsoil with large
stones carefully removed by machine. The
allotments were re-instated in the spring of 1990 and for the first couple
of years lucky plotholders had the pleasure of picking mushrooms from the
paths.
Years later there is
little evidence of these works. At
one end of the tank, by the vehicle turning space, are concrete slabs
covering maintenance engineers’ access steps down into the tank.
At the other end of the tank can be seen six ventilation pipes and a
small brick building.
Presumably the brook
now flows quietly, mostly underground, to join the River Frome.
There have been no complaints of nuisance from the brook reported in
the press. Some winters a small
section of the brook is still visible in Elton Road.
The following
photographs show the work in progress during those years;
1. Preparation;
