Down the Drain

The Beverley and Barmston land drain was quite a feat of engineering in its construction from 1798 to 1810.

Its importance in the environment remains valid to the present day  Starting at Hempholme Lock close to the village of North Frodingham it makes its way cross country receiving water from some 40 subsidiary drains and protects around 12600 acres of some of the most fertile agricultural land in East Yorkshire. 

Under the supervision of Chief Engineer William Chapman, William Settle the Resident Engineer and Thomas  Dyson the scheme included 23 miles of drainage cuts, 20 miles of embankments, 11 tunnels and 27 bridges. 

After taking a rather anonymous route through a good chunk of North Hull the Beverley and Barmston discharges into the River Hull from a sluice gate not far from the Whalebone Public House. 

Inevitably the drain came into close contact with, in the inter war period, the back gardens of the new Corporation and Privately built residential suburbs of Northern Hull.  It was however in the industrial corridor of Sculcoates that earlier working class housing fronted onto the bank of the watercourse. 

These included terraces with the names of Richmond, Irene, Northumberland, Victoria and Barmston. 

At the best of times the drain was a brackish backwater, a dumping ground for debris and also, for the local population, a major hazard to life from drowning either as a consequence of a tragic accident or an intentional act of despair. 

The pages of the Hull Daily Mail Newspaper carried regular reports of such incidents from the late 1800's which coincided with the growth and establishing of the urban areas close to the course of the drain. There were of course the accompanying investigations and formal Inquests which took up more column inches in the local press. There are no traceable records of fatalities amongst the more dispersed rural population in the upstream waters although undoubtedly there were some. 

Deaths and disappearances were quite common and the total to date is thought to be around 100 persons including a love struck couple on a suicide pact. 

One particularly tragic but all too familiar event was in 1938 and marked the thirteenth drowning over the preceding 4 years. 

The waters of the Barmston Drain, for all of their insanitary condition, had always been a major attraction to local boys as a venue for swimming and larking about. One popular spot was where warm water, a by-product of the Sculcoates Power Station was returned into the drain making for a much more comfortable temperature than could be expected elsewhere. 

In normal times the depth was regularly between 10 and 13 feet. 

My late Father in Law, George was one of these youngsters who diced with the risk of succumbing to the waters or to the subsequent development of diseases from inadvertently ingesting the contaminated water from industry or rodents. 

The Police in 1938 admitted that they had little jurisdiction over boys and young men who just behaved to type and there was discussion in Hull Corporation for the recruitment of a Lifeguard although any costs would have to be met by the Drainage Board and not the Council. 

The unfortunate victim on this occasion was an 8 year old, Richard Thomas Jackson who lived in Ripon Terrace just of Liddell Street.  This was in mid May in the evening and so the artificially warm waters close to the Power Station were the critical element in making bathing possible at that time of the year. 

Young Richard was one of a large group in the Barmston at that time although he was a non-swimmer. 

His pals were sure that he had left and gone home until they later found his clothes on the embankment. Their search led them to recover his body and the authorities were called to take him to the Infirmary. 

There were further tragedies involving young boys and in 1939 at the Inquest of a 7 year old proposals were put forward to make bathing in the drain illegal giving powers to the Police to take all necessary action in what was a scandalous and perilous situation. 

Unfortunately the unnecessary loss of life continued for decades after. In recent years those foolish enough to take a swim have developed Weils Disease or skin rashes. In local folklore and myth there have been reports of a Werewolf-like Beast  preying on domestic pets along the course of the Barmston Drain but with no firm evidence to support this. 

Such has been the misery and tragedy around the unfortunate fatalities in the waters that there must be the presence of trapped and wailing souls. 

What they would make of the discarded bicycle frames and half submerged Asda shopping trolleys is a another matter entirely.