Memories of the Dam

Long standing residents of Wellow have fond childhood memories of the dam, and some of these are reproduced here;

From Bill Ragsdale; "As an old resident of Wellow, I have many happy memories of Wellow Dam. Particularly as in my younger days the winter weather seemed to be more severe, and the Dam was frozen over for very long periods. As children we could play there quite safely for weeks - except at the south corner where the inflow of water came in from the spring, which is still a constant supply of fresh water. The spring itself is sixty yards or more to the south going out towards Wellow School, and I can still remember it exactly as it was when I was a boy. The Council levelled off that stretch back to the highway, and did away with the Bucket Well which used to exist; this was a very strong stone construction built on the side of a hill, with stone pillars and a large slab of stone on the top. The well was made so that a bucket could be dipped and filled with the beautiful clear spring water, and taken away for use; this was before piped water was in the village. Another well lay at the side of the dyke opposite Audrey Laughtons'. The supply of fresh spring water comes into the dam by the roadside, and it can be seen to be running at all times. As children we were told to keep away from that area, as there was a certain amount of water that did not freeze, no matter how hard the winter frosts. As I say, we spent many happy hours down there as kids, and when I learned how to skate, we could play ice - hockey with stones and sticks. We also had some excellent skaters in the village at that time; the water is never stagnant, as the outflow runs into the dyke on the east side, where the big stone is. In the summer time before so much road traffic, cattle grazing on the green had a ready-made drinking supply, and also when land work made the heavy clay stick to the horses' legs, we used to take them down for a good splash around. One old demented lady in my youth committeed suicide in the placid waters. I have always maintained that at some time the Dam area has been excavated to exist on its' present scale. If anyone looks at the large mound to the south- east at the side of the track, it seems to me that one could reasonably imagine that the quantity of soil in that large bank would be the equivalent of the amount which at some time was dug out to provide a constant water supply to the early settlers. The amount of soil to me seems to be about the amount which would be the result of an excavation.