BWCE have collaborated with another local environmental group to install an information board on the South side of the River Avon at Bathampton enabling visitors to learn all about the BWCE owned hydro-electric water wheel at the Old Mill Hotel on the opposite bank. BWCE member Steve Cross has produced the display board and volunteers from the Friends of Bathampton Meadows Riverside have installed it.
The information board charts the history of water power from its use by the Chinese two millennia ago, through its significance in powering the large cotton mills of the Industrial Revolution through to today when water power is back on the agenda as one of the sources of renewable energy contributing to the fight against climate change.
Steve Cross said “We are proud to be a local pioneer in this industry, rebuilding and reopening the waterwheel in late 2016, hosted by the Old Mill Hotel. Currently it supplies about a third of the hotel’s electricity requirement and in total can generate the equivalent annual electricity to power twenty homes.”
The Bathampton Meadows Riverside volunteers used re-cycled timber and the loan of tools from a local builder to produce the stand for the board. Peter Fear said “Once you get into the mindset of ‘refuse, re-use, re-cycle’ it becomes the norm to think of alternative options rather than buying new. We are keen to keep our carbon footprint closer to a lightweight slipper rather than a big boot”.
The Friends of Bathampton Meadows Riverside was set up to maintain and improve the beautiful riverside space at Bathampton Meadows. Volunteers from both Bathampton and Batheaston have been working tirelessly to improve the area for both wildlife and visitors.
