Winford aqueducts and the Bristol Waterworks Company's 'Line of Works' 1846-51

In 1848-51, an 18km water conduit was built to supply Bristol with fresh drinking water from the Mendip Hills. This video takes a look at the most visible aspects of engineer James Simpson's "Line of Works", including a series of wrought iron aqueducts, as well as exploring the glaring deficiencies of Bristol's early modern water system which prompted this construction.

0:00 Introduction
1:18 Historical context
3:09 Royal Commission report 1845
4:02 Wells and conduits
9:22 The Line of Works
11:53 Winford aqueduct
14:04 Watery Lane aqueduct
16:44 Harptree Combe aqueduct
17:28 Breach Hill obelisk
18:51 Outro and credits

[originalmossman]

Thank you! At least five years ago I was on approach to Bristol airport, passing over the Chew valley when I saw something which made me wonder "what the bloody hell is that?!"... After all this time I finally have the answer: it was the Watery Lane aqueduct - which, despite driving though that valley several times a week for several years I never knew the existence of.

Having lived in the Bristol area for more than a decade now I have my dad (living in the Netherlands) to thank for pointing me to your channel - a few videos in and you're already answering a lot of my nerdy architectural / civil engineering questions such as where the heck does the Frome go? (We managed to live in several locations close to the river North of Bristol, so this always bugged me.)

[glaxnor]

Excellent video. As a life long Bristolian these videos still teach me much i did not know about my city and the surrounding area. Keep up the good work. :-)

[allangriffiths]

Thank you so much for another brilliantly interesting video which brought back many happy childhood memories for me. As a schoolboy, I used to go dinghy sailing with the Bristol Corinthian Yacht Club at Cheddar Reservoir which, at the time, everybody called the Axbridge Reservoir. Fun fact: When the wind was blowing from the east i.e. through the Cheddar Gorge, it was sometimes possible to sail right around the lake without the need to tack at all. It was a bit like being the pea in a referee's whistle!
Keep up the good work!

[kingsboy]

Wow, really interesting video about the aquaduct. I grew up in south Bristol and would often go to Dundry and down to Winford and Chew Magna area but never knew the aquaduct existed. I'll plan to take a visit next time I'm in that area as I now live in Canada.

[sueross]

The best podcast so far. I was watching this for completism, as I'm coming distressingly close to having seen all of them (more please) and found it fascinating. What a feat to pull together all that diverse information! Thank you (but hurry up and do more)

[andrewhotston]

Thanks for this - 21 minutes of my evening very well spent.

[RedScare]

I really like these videos, my dude. Really great to learn things about the Bristol region.

Was just typing up a comment to mention the Harptree Combe aquaduct, and you nailed it. It's a good walk, but can be very muddy.

[ThunderousMellow]

This was a fantastic video, amazing to learn more about the nuts and bolts of my local area!

[Deepthought-]

Thanks for yet another interesting and informative video about the Bristol and North Somerset area telling me things I should know but don’t 👍

[stevenmetzger]

Amazing historical video! Thanks from Arizona USA 🇺🇸

[petersmith]

An idea for a future video would be the River Trym -- Westbury, Henbury, Coombe Dingle, Sea Mills, etc.

[BaseReality]

Very nice. One nitpick, at 7:05 the narrator says "3 shillings per week", but the text on screen says "in money to 3d per week". The 'd' stands for pence, rather than shillings as the system is '£sd' from Libra, solidi and denarius. Because why update the abbreviation when the word has changed at some point in the previous thousand years.

[EricosterWo]

This is as about as good of a historical archive as they come. well done. I sincerely hope you are being compensated for your time in creating this in a way that you best see fit. fuck yeah

[trainandbikefan]

Thanks for another good one PD (watched as I discover them). But having learned not to overlook previous comments before popping one up myself, I can reiterate that at circa 7 minutes into the story 'd' indicate pence in each instance (for anyone interested:- a shilling was worth 12 old pence and 20 shillings = one pound i.e. there were 240 old pence to the pound not 100 as today) 8¬)

[Alan_UK]

Only last night I was reading about the 1877 typhoid outbreak in Bradford on Avon resulting in deaths. Like Bristol, sewage was contaminating the spring water. Arguments broke out between the vicar and other households as to who was to blame. A committee was formed but for years they bickered about the cost and whether they should form their own water company or use the Trowbridge Water Company. Meanwhile the poor continued to carry contaminated water up the steep hills and fall ill. Eventually they went it alone and sunk wells at Winsley. Shows how bad things were just 150 years ago and how mud-slinging, finances and contracts dominated.

[dukeofaaghisle]

5:30 doesn’t show the Bristol cross at Stourhead. I am intrigued to know what the photo actually shows.

[GoosedFacedKillah]

Have you any more info on the annual walk from Ridgewell to Bristol?