This is the end

      This is the end, the end of the Middle Level Drain. The boss and I received an invitation to tour the new pumping station at St. Germans last Monday, courtesy of the local Inland Drainage Board and the Middle Level Commissioners.
      This is a demonstration of serious pumping power, awe-inspiring doesn't describe it, six huge pumps, that were made in the Netherlands and each discharge the equivalent of an Olympic swimming pool every twenty one seconds or 7,830 tonnes per minute. Needless to say the impressive statistics go on and on and on, more information is available on middlelevel.gov.uk

      In the event of a major 'incident', where the electric power is down, each pump is backed up with a twelve cylinder 2,000hp diesel engine; belt and braces there you might say. No wonder the water in the drains begins to move twenty miles away when those pumps begin their work.
      This time it really is fair to say that we are in safe hands with the people who have been looking after this part of the Fens since 1862, from the farmers and landowners who form the Inland Drainage Boards to the Middle Level Commissioners who manage the area.
      I'd like to bet that the people in Somerset wish that they'd had this level of experience, and a facility like this, managing their water last winter.