Films online

The 4 films made last summer for Seven Streams will be available to view on the City Park website from the week beginning 24 January.

Courtroom Drama

The Seven Streams project included 3 illustrated lecture/performances based on my research into Bradford Beck. These took place in the City Hall Courtroom, chosen both for its historic atmosphere and for its suitability, since so much of the Beck's story concerns court cases and legal disputes.

I was joined by Worth Valley actor Julie McConnell and by composer/musician David Wilson, whose virtuoso saxophone and flute playing accompanied the proceedings.

My most dramatic story, perhaps also the least known, recounts the worst case of pollution recorded on the Beck. In December 1911 a pair of explosions wrecked a number of works situated on the Beck near Water Lane, downstream of a wool-scouring plant at Fieldhead Mills. 3 men were killed in the blasts and ensuing fires:

Julie
Jonathan Bartle, aged 60
John Lumley, 33
Francis Greenwood, 23

Simon
...and there were many injuries.
The Coroner’s Enquiry heard from Dr Fowler of Manchester University that...

Julie
...The effluent in the watercourse was very highly charged with petrol and was a source of danger to the public safety. Fieldhead Mills had various tanks containing over 56,000 gallons of mixed petrol and water used for the purpose of extracting grease from wool.

Simon
Dr Fowler: it has been stated that 900-1000 gallons of petrol taken into the building disappeared every week. Are you really saying this can all be accounted for in wool sediment and evaporation?

Julie
I don’t know, your honour. We have heard evidence that some 25 gallons may have entered the Beck all at once. It would be impossible to give the source of the petrol coming down the Beck, as there are so many pipes that have not been investigated.

Simon
Is the Beck itself liable to explode?

Julie
Yes, your honour. That is what caused the loss of life and damage. Several premises are built directly over the Beck.

Simon
Alright. I have heard enough. I grant an injunction restraining Messrs John Smith and Son from working, or permitting to be worked, a degreasing plant in which petrol is used, and from discharging into any beck, drain or sewer in Bradford any effluent containing petrol or other volatile spirit.

Julie
What happened next? Was there a prosecution?

Simon
I don’t know. There’s more research to be done. It sounds to me pure luck it didn’t happen all the time.

Source: Bradford Daily Argus

Bradford Beck – The Album

The title track of Saltaire singer-songwriter Eddie Lawler's CD Bradford Beck gets the measure of the beck. At last it has a champion.

www.eddie-lawler.co.uk

Stories of Bradford flooding

by Ted Maskell, former Leading Fireman

Picture: City centre floods 1947

During the winter of 1947, very heavy snow fell on Bradford. The vast amount of snow cleared from the city centre streets was moved using horse and carts, and tipped through open manholes into the Beck flowing under the city. Later in spring when the snow on the hills melted the Beck which had been so useful to get rid of the snow earlier, now overflowed and flooded the city.

2 July 1968: once again the city was flooded, following a violent storm which broke mid morning on what had earlier been blue cloudless skies. No doubt the beck was in flood after the storm but due to the vast amount of water cascading down the drains from upper levels it was impossible to know where the water, which flooded the city, was originating. The scene at Forster Square that morning was of 18 inches of water across the roads and the subways flooded. It was thought someone was trapped in the subway shop or toilets, and frogmen were sent down, but later all persons were accounted for.

The amount of water flowing out of the ramps at the Canal Road side of the subways was such that a 4 foot wave formed against the old station wall at the end of Valley Road, now the Post Office car park. It looked as though the rivers Aire and Wharfe had been diverted along Canal Road.

Early one evening in 1975 or 1976 a violet thunder storm broke over the Thornton area. The Shearbridge area of the city was hit by very heavy rain. Three teenage girls took shelter in the entrance to a tunnel through which the beck was quietly flowing. A sudden flood of water down the valley swept the girls away. Their bodies were subsequently found in the beck at the lower end of Thornton Road. (More detail probably available in T&A archives)

In more recent times, where the beck passes through Shipley at Low Well before draining into the river Aire, a range of old mill buildings was demolished to make way for the construction of a McDonald’s and Aldi store. The wall of the old mill, which was demolished almost to water level, formed a solid barrier to contain the beck in times of flood. A new wall was built much higher than planned when it was realized that the beck in flood would not be confined by the originally planned decorative feature.

Flooding and Water quality – the Council's perspective

by Kirsty Breaks PhD BSc, Senior Drainage Officer

Bradford District has a population of 477,800 (Office of National Statistics, 2003) and whilst two thirds of the District's 36,642 hectare area is rural, around 60% of the population live in the urban areas. The River Aire and the River Wharfe cut through the District and there are an abundance of other watercourses in the form of becks and streams; the most notable of these being Bradford Beck, which flows through Bradford city centre. Bradford Beck and its tributaries comprise a total stream length of 35km; 21 km of which is found within the urban area with a large proportion fully enclosed in culverts.

The Environment Agency’s flood maps show that many areas adjacent to the Aire and the Wharfe are at medium to high risk of flooding. Lengths of Bradford Beck are also shown to have a high risk, and the devastating effects of flooding were seen in September 1946, May 1947 and July 1968. The flood of 1968 was the final straw and triggered the construction of the Bradford Beck diversion tunnel, which diverts peak flows around the City centre. The diversion tunnel runs under Bradford from Preston Street to Queens Road and takes flows from Westbrook Beck as well as Bradford Beck. The tunnel's maximum depth is 60 metres between White Abbey Road and Manningham Lane.

Numerous areas in Bradford are also regarded as being susceptible to risk of surface water (flow over land and down roads) flooding and these are not just limited to the low, flatter areas of the District. Development reduces the space for water and reduces the natural drainage into the ground. The problem is further exacerbated in areas where ground permeability is naturally low; or the water table is naturally high, due to the geological make-up of the ground. Areas in Haworth, Oakworth, Keighley, Ilkley and Bradford have all been subject to surface water flooding.

Flooding also affects water quality. Where highways drain to watercourses, or Yorkshire Water have combined sewer overflows (CSOs), high discharge rates in storm weather can lead to an increase in the levels of pollutants entering natural watercourses.

Bradford Council (www.bradford.gov.uk) is striving to improve water quality and understand flood risk within the Bradford District. Some work is driven by current legislation (e.g. Water Framework Directive, (2000/60/EC), Floods Directive (2007/60/EC), Water Framework Directive, (2000/60/EC), Flood & Water Management Act, 2010); however, the Local Authority has been proactive in undertaking and continuing research through EU projects. For example, working with partner European nations via the Urban Water Cycle (UWC: www.urbanwatercycle.org ) project, Bradford established two natural pilot wetlands on tributaries of Bradford Beck that were subject to discharge from Highways drainage (Pitty Beck) and a CSO (Chellow Dean Beck – see lower photo). These wetlands were established to determine their effectiveness at removing associated pollutants from the water and results were compared to a more ‘high tech’ method utilising a vortex separator at the Bradford Beck inlet works at Preston Street (see top photo). The wetlands were a great success, not only for pollutant removal but also in providing attractive amenity areas for local residents. The sites are thriving, both ecologically and in the support they have from the local communities. They have demonstrated that urban areas can successfully incorporate multi functional water.

We are currently involved in two further projects: FloodResilienCity (FRC:
www.floodresiliencity.eu ) and Skills, Integration and New Technologies (SKINT: www.skintwater.eu ). The FRC project enables responsible public authorities in eight cities in North West Europe to better cope with floods in urban areas. This is being done through a combination of transnational cooperation and regional investments. Partners of the FRC project are learning from each others’ flood management and urban planning approaches, not only at the level of technological experts, but more importantly, at the level of the political decision makers and the general public. Bradford is developing new ways of modelling flood risk within the District and is seeking to determine and heighten the public's level of awareness through questionnaires and workshops.

The use of appropriate spatial planning processes can address many urban water management problems. The SKINT project aims to facilitate the implementation of sustainable urban land and water management by improving the integration of water management in spatial planning processes. The results from the project will be used for a permanent water web-portal and a web-based face-to-face training programme for water and urban land use professionals. The permanent portal for urban water and land use in Europe will be complementary to, and will interact with portals developed by other projects. After the completion of the SKINT project, the water portal will continue to be a dynamic user-driven website for multidisciplinary stakeholders and a source of communication about truly sustainable urban water management.

Flood risk cannot be entirely removed. It is hoped that through these projects, everyone in Bradford will improve their understanding of how the risk can be managed and what we need to do, now and in the future, to help minimise these risks and provide sustainable communities for future generations.

If you live in Bradford District and have experienced flooding; if you wish to contribute, as a resident, to these projects, or if you would simply like more information then please contact Kirsty Breaks on 01274 432507 or e-mail me at kirsty.breaks@bradford.gov.uk