Louis' Legacy

The following is one of a series of very detailed, informative and fascinating articles (this one written prior the severe flooding during the winter of 2013-2014) and talks by Iain Miles on a unique feature of Somerset. He is President of the Westonzoyland Engine Trust and Pumping Station Museum who gave a version of his talks to the W&YDMES meeting in November 2016. LOUIS’ LEGACY Eric Louis Kelting, and Somerset’s Steam Heritage Cometh The Hour, Cometh The Man. Eric Louis Kelting, O.B.E. C.Eng., F.I.C.E., J.P., was a well-respected figure in the history of the County of Somerset for almost half of the 20thc. He brought flood relief to large areas of the County. He was a very persuasive individual and, like many people in history, was the right person in the right place at the right time. He was unusual in that as well as being a qualified engineer he was also a Barrister-at-law. What I find amazing about him, was that he combined his work with a strong interest in history, both natural and man- made, and a busy public life. He had joined the Somerset Archaeological & Natural History Society in 1940, serving on the Council of that Society, then as Hon Sec., and following that as President in 1968/9. Latterly he was a Trustee until his death on 28th. December 1978. He was also a member of the Newcomen Society. Surprisingly another aspect of his public work was Chairmanship of 4 hospital management Committees and also the Bridgwater Magistrates Court. He certainly had more energy than most! (1) He came to Somerset in 1921, after education at Dulwich College, to be an articled pupil of the Engineer to the Somerset Drainage Commissioners. It was clearly at this point that he became interested in the county and its history. (1) In 1924 he left to become a Senior Engineering Assistant at Somerset County Council. Whilst there, he was responsible for the reconstruction of what is now the A38 from Highbridge to Taunton, and both the East Brent and Crowcombe (in West Somerset) by-passes. He then moved out of the County, going to Norfolk as Senior Engineering Assistant (with Land Drainage duties), and Cheshire as Chief Engineer to the Cheshire Rivers Catchment Board. All this gave him a unique background in Rivers, Drainage and Flood Prevention. He certainly had a good c.v. and interviewed well for the post of Chief Engineer, as he was successful despite being relatively unknown and a youthful 28 years of age. (2) Louis was appointed as Chief Engineer to the Somerset Rivers Catchment Board in 1938 and it’s from this date that we begin to see his influence on the County. He had been employed at Somerset County Council in 1929 when the major flood disaster occurred which flooded much of central Somerset. This had rendered approx 200 families homeless also closing the GWR main line. A National Relief Fund was set up to which £30,000 was subscribed. (3) Since 1881, when they were formed, the Drainage Commissioners had done their best with little cash available. There were no Government Grants to draw on so all income came from rating the lands which directly benefitted. Work which had to be undertaken was helped to some extent by loans, but these had to be repaid. The period from 1900 to the late ‘20s involved little expenditure and administrative matters concerning other authorities. Maintenance work was done on a low cost basis. (4) 1 The severe 1929 flood helped to bring about the 1930 Land Drainage Act and formation of the Somerset Rivers Catchment Board, which allowed rating of land throughout the whole catchment area of the main rivers. Everyone got excited at the idea that now the flood problem could be dealt with. The previous 100 years or so had produced many reports and ideas from different bodies but in the economic depression of the 1930’s there was no hope of putting anything into Photo from Somerset Rivers Catchment Board report action. Louis Kelting pointing out items of interest to members of the River Authority. The maintenance plant which had been acquired left a lot to be desired! In the 1880’s, the Drainage Commissioners had looked into various ways of improving things. Mr Frederick Lowry, their first full time engineer, who had come from Great Grimsby used his knowledge from the Fens. Following reports by him and Mr W.H. Wheeler of Boston, he experimented with moveable scouring dams, pontoon mounted steam grabs, and various types of dredger. He then came up with the most successful, to a point, an eroding boat. (5) Pioneer was basically a steam launch with steam driven monitors fore and aft. She was built by W & F Wills of Bridgwater, who hired her to the Commissioners as and when needed. She operated on the rivers Parrett and Tone from the early 1890’s until the 1st World War when labour became difficult. (6) The idea was sound, but whether it was worth the money is open to conjecture. The water jets blasted the silt away from the self-acting ‘clyse’ doors and bridge holes to be taken out to sea on a falling tide. Unfortunately, returning on the next! For those of you not familiar with the situation regarding our wonderful Parrett, immense quantities of silt go up and down river on each tide. Examples of deposition recorded in one summer drought are 7 feet at Bleadon Clyse, 8 feet at Highbridge and 14 feet at Dunball. (7) When the SRCB came about, most of their plant seemed to consist of a couple of early draglines and hand tools. They probably hired labour as and when required, but in the 1930’s the idea of eroding came up again with the construction of the ‘Persevere’, an oil engine version of the Pioneer which seems to have lasted until the 1950’s when it was taken to Watchet Harbour, finally dying there in the early 1970’s On his appointment in 1938, Louis Kelting found that the Board, as it had become, was fed up with report after report and no action. Some of these grandiose schemes had seemed to do little more than invoke strenuous opposition from other authorities, so his diplomacy was needed to get the different boards to agree on what was a good plan if the money was available. One of the many problems faced at this time, was a reluctance by Government to see Somerset as anything other than a county of dairy farmers and not worth the expenditure to eradicate annual flooding. (I may point out here that the method was to accept winter flooding, but try to dry the land out early in the spring for summer pasture, rather than all-year drainage for arable crops. Let us not forget that the name “Somerset” comes from the Anglo Saxon, “land of the summer people “ or “dwellers by the sea lake”). However, in 1939 a start was approved on widening and deepening the Kings Sedgemoor Drain as part of a scheme to improve all the main rivers. History then intervened in the shape of WW2 and everyone thought the scheme would languish once more. However, because of it work continued apace. 2 Huntspill River, Keltings Cut. In early October 1939 Louis was asked to provide 4 ½ million gallons per day for an Ordnance Factory to be built at Puriton on the South side of the Brue Valley. This was no problem in winter conditions, but would have left thousands of acres very short in summertime. Earlier in the year he had been looking at a possible plan to provide a flood relief channel for the Brue Valley, based on a 19thc proposal. A lot of this area’s Photo from Somerset Rivers Catchment Board report flooding was created by a 5 mile wide coastal clay belt which prevented water from inland flowing out Construction of the Huntspill Cut, 1940. Party of to the sea. The Brue channel was insufficient to dignitaries visiting from Westminster, Kelting on the allow this water to gravitate to sea except at low right. It is believed that the gentleman beside him was tide, and both the North and South Drains the Deputy Prime Minister of Yugoslavia, who was discharged into the Brue to the landward side of this known to have been included in the group. belt, rendering them ineffective, so some other way was needed. Kelting therefore proposed that a channel be dug from Gold Corner on the old Glastonbury Canal (South Drain) through the belt to the River Parrett near West Huntspill. This would be of a pumped storage nature, with sea doors (or a clyse) at the west end, and a major pumping station at the east end. It would solve the summertime water shortage by providing a reservoir for the nearby factory and fulfil a land drainage function as well, which had the further spin-off of allowing greater food production for the War effort, so it killed 3 birds with one stone. The work had to be completed within 3 years (obviously they wanted it finished before the War ended!), so an immediate start was needed with problems being solved as they arose. Cutting commenced on the 12th Jan 1940 by direct labour as Louis’ previous experience with Somerset’s clay had taught him to be cautious about the ground to be excavated, and indeed this did prove to be a problem. The nature of the clay was such that at the designed batter the weight of the deposited material caused the bed to well up and the bank to slump.

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