The River Path The River Path
Hampshire Water Festival
Common Ground's Water Market in Blandford Forum in August 2000 was the first of its kind and was initiated to inspire others to organise their own.
Mike Bridgeman visited the Water Market and whilst engaged on the Hampshire Water Strategy began to discuss with us the possibility of creating something similar to widen interest in water conservation and wise use.
From the beginning we stressed that Winchester offered a fine choice. The River Itchen runs through the town and near by water meadows and there is a water mill at the bottom of the High Street. St Swithun is buried there, remembered for '40 days of rain' if the weather is bad on his day, July 15. King Canute, also buried in the cathedral, was big enough to want to demonstrate that despite his prowess, the tide still came in. The cathedral high altar is built directly over a holy well, and the crypt is wondrous, the water table fluctuates and the sculpture, by Anthony Gormley, of a contemplative man often has water up to his knees. The other hero is The Diver, William Walker, who at the turn of the century, spent years in a huge diving suit working underwater to shore up a corner of the building.
With assistance from Common Ground and in a partnership of local organisations Hampshire County Council organised its first Water Festival in 2003 on August 16 in Winchester.
Around 10,000 visitors came to the Festival. At the Water Market in the Cathedral Close companies sold rivery produce such as fish and watercress, drought and water tolerant plants were on sale, the Green Shop advised on, displayed and sold a wide variety of rainwater harvesting goods, water-based paints, books and much more. Common Ground had a stall and display offering advice on conservation and celebration based upon our projects such as Confluence and local distinctiveness and selling books such as our 'The River's Voice' anthology of mainly twentieth century poetry. There were many free events along the River Itchen - guided tours of Winnall Moors Nature Reserve, water history and engineering walks by Blue Badge Tourists Guides, water meadows tours, an open day at the Canoe Club and evening bat walks. There were exhibitions and talks in the Guildhall, and the most popular event by far was The Spurting Man who gave two packed performances in the Abbey Gardens. Nine hundred people visited Winchester City Mill run by the National Trust, twice the day attendance record.
The second festival was held on August 14th 2004 in Winchester and was again opened by Chris Packham and featured The Spurting Man in a new soggy entertainment called 'Mr Lucky's Party'. Core events included the Water Market in the Outer Close of Winchester Cathedral, entertainment in the Abbey Gardens, events in the Guildhall and a variety of guided walks. Winchester City Mill had a record attendance of over 1,000 in one day.
The third festival was on August 13th 2005 again in Winchester. It featured the Water Market itself plus music, craft and theatre, films & exhibitions, an open day at Winchester city mill, guided walks, canoeing and fishing. Throughout August, other related events took place including rowing, swimming, a festival dinner, source-to-sea river tours, children's activities and waterworks tours.
For its fourth year, the festival moved to Romsey, situated above the River Test, on August 19th 2006.
The sun shone on the Memorial Gardens, where most of the activities took place. Food, music, entertainment, the Spurting Man, Nick Crump’s musical plumbing instruments stood side by side with Water Aid, the Environment Agency, Hampshire and IOW Trust, the Watercress Alliance and many others.
There were guided walks around the town (the place is criss-crossed by streams, some hidden underground), ale trails and river walks. The Romsey and District Society published a special booklet ‘Walk the Water Ways of Romsey’ and put on an exhibition about some of their mills, drainage systems, breweries etc. Beautiful old bottles found in the town’s waterways were on sale.
Watery films and talks took place in the Church Hall and there were further exhibitions in the Town Hall.
The Cornmarket hosted firms that sold water-saving equipment, and close by artist Gordon Woods was compiling a Town Water Map, with suggestions for inclusion by local people.
This was a fraction of the day’s activities. Much enjoyed by the thousands of people who came to it. Congratulations to Andrew Pitt and his team from the Hampshire Water Partnership foe infecting Hampshire, Sussex and Kent with the bug to create water festivals.
For further information please contact Andrew Pitt or Mike Bridgeman on +44(0)1962 846810 or email festival[at]hampshireswater.org.uk or visit www.hampshirewater.org.uk
