Vennford Reservoir

Swincombe!
Remember that SWWB advert to "Save Water, Bath With A Friend"?
During the severe water shortages of 1974 when we were using standpipes, I wrote a letter to the principal objector of that scheme, Lady Sylvia Sayers; inviting her to come around and share a bath with me but warning her that I would piss in it and taunt her if she had tits like empty paper bags...........................I didn't even get a reply !

A excellent finding, Dave, and I wonder if a certain AM of Newton Abbot petitioned the support of Miss Joan Vickers in his own inimitable fashion? Or Jeremy Thorpe or Michael Heseltine for that matter? And, yes, Sir Frederic himself is even there, wakening from his slumbers to interject at one point. At least it made a change from him representing Pretoria or Santiago in the Mother of Parliaments. Also, a little aside from the future Baroness Joan on the subject of Mayflower 1970. Does anyone remember that?

Merse in fact beat me to it with his mention of Lady Sylvia Sayers. Thinking back, my parents - Dartmoor visitors of the kind who never ventured too far from the car (usually at Badger's Holt, naturally) - thought she was a raving lunatic. By contrast a family friend, who grew up near Princetown, was firmly in the preservationalist "no water on the moor" camp. They had some intriguing discussions.

I guess you either think reservoirs enhance the beauty of the moor - and Joan Vickers made a fair point in saying they're not ugly - or you believe they spoil the naturalness of the landscape. I'm ambivalent as usual. Aside from Meldon, I've not known a Dartmoor reservoir built within my life's memory. For me, in that sense, reservoirs come with the moor's territory. On the other hand as a Dartmoor lover - with over thirty years of tramping that wonderful, Godforsaken place under my belt (and Swincombe near Hexworthy is pretty bleak I can tell you) - I'm firmly of the belief Dartmoor adds that extra dimension in making Devon special. Love it - or hate it (and what do people on this site feel about Dartmoor?) - such a wilderness is pretty unusual in the southern half of the country. You don't get that sort of landscape in bleedin' Essex, do you?

Consequently - if there had never been any reservoirs on the moor - I'd now be pretty bloody grumpy if somebody suddenly proposed the flooding of moorland valleys. But, ultimately, I imagine the realist (and geographer) in me would surface and I'd accept the pro-water arguments. After all, what's the alternative? However, having said that, it's fascinating we haven't heard too many Dartmoor reservoir proposals since Swincombe. What happened? Did the preservationalists win the day? Or did the massive off-the-moor Roadford Lake fit the bill perfectly?

So, we look forward to the rest of Dave's series on the moor's reservoirs. In the meantime, a question. The moor has reservoirs built by Plymouth, Paignton and Torquay. But what about Exeter? Where does its supply come from? You may find answers - or not - at the superb Exeter Memories website: www.exetermemories.co.uk

I think Dartmoor is worth a whole thread on its own Barton and I'm sure it would be a very interesting one and many would have tales to tell