The Pond Part 1

Although the blog has been strangely silent for a while, that does not mean life has been quiet at One 17. Far from it. I could say too busy to permit time for blogging but that would indeed be a pathetic excuse.

The Pond Part 1: The biggest news of the late winter and spring has undoubtedly been the saga of our pond. This had for years, as far as we know, chugged along peacefully, originally providing the water for the dye pits in our building. After the dyeworks closed, it reverted to being largely decorative and home to an alarmingly large population of fish.

Since moving in we have cherished the pond, tidying it up and making sure the inlets and outlets were clear and flowing. Until, that is, the very heavy rainfall in the late winter when we realised one day that the water level was rising, rather than stopping at the height of the overflow. As water began to seep over the edge and trickle down into our car park we could see that urgent action was necessary, so out into the torrent stepped a hand picked group, armed only with a set of drain rods and a misplaced sense of optimism. They rodded the overflow. Still the water rose. They found another overflow and rodded that. Still the water rose.

After much scrabbling in the undergrowth, what looked like another outlet came to light and the intrepid crew rodded and rodded with all their might. Eventually, a blockage seemed to give and, sure enough, the rising tide was halted. Happy, even though soaked to the skin, the work detail trudged back inside for a welcome coffee.

Next morning it was clear that the trick had been worked: the water was definitely not rising any more. In fact it was now several inches lower than it had ever been before. And still dropping.

To cut to the chase, the overflow that had come to light and been rodded clear of blockage turned out to be the main drain plug in the very base of the pond. It had not been touched for decades and, in response to some pretty vigorous pounding with the drain rods, it had disintegrated. There was no way to replace it until after the pond had emptied completely.