'Drowning' the Harnham Watermeadows

This morning was the 1st of two public demonstrations of the ancient procedure of "drowning" the watermeadows, that as you can see lay under the grandeur and poise of Salisbury's cathedral and its majestic 404ft spire.

Being on duty as volunteer official, (to stop folk from jumping gleefully into the newly released waters) but as official snapper (inc submission to local paper), this was one of many tasks that I enjoy and get involved with the Harnham Watermeadows Trust, over the past 8 years or so and as you can see, out on the 'meadows, you get unparalleled views over to the cathedral, as this land is owned by the Dean & Chapter (ie Church of England) and thus has no public access.

The Trust (that link goes to their website) now operate and promote these agricultural archaeological meadows, which is a complex site of many conservation statuses. The 'meadows also remain one of the finest water irrigation systems in the country - this act of diverting water onto frozen ground from local rivers - Avon & Nadder (esp during the 'little ice-age' of the 18th C) was to raise the core temperature of the grass by several degrees. This meant your sheep (living with you, probably, in medieval times) that were eating valuable solid food could go out to pasture several weeks earlier than before.

Why was this important? Well, Salisbury, like many towns of similar size and history, were literally made (wealth-wise) from wool and its merchants . Salisbury came to be on of the top dozen richest towns and cities of the period - and walking out onto the meadows on such a blindingly bright and beautiful winter's morning takes you right back into history.

Last year's demonstration was postponed and scaled right down, due to almost NO water; this year, of course, was the very opposite. Zoom in on 'large' and you can see my mate Hadrian, dressed in Wurzelly attire, a hydrologist, taking on the role of the 'drowner' and talking through the procedures to the public who had come along.

I chose this image as it shows the freshly running water, a couple of swans that we had had the disservice of getting too near and suitably, the group as just being a tiny part of the this big picture and that even bigger, polarised blue sky.