Following the news that a drought has been declared across the East Midlands following a record summer for high temperatures, we've had a look back at when Nottinghamshire previously experienced a drought.
It was in 1976 when Nottingham suffered the worst drought for 250 years: hosepipes were banned, public green spaces were closed, Green Goddesses were brought in to tackle grass fires and the Government even appointed a Minister for Drought.
In fact, the 1976 drought began the previous September, after a particularly dry summer, and the reservoirs never recovered.
And once we got into the hot summer of ’76 when, for 14 consecutive days, temperatures in the low 30sC were recorded, the situation became desperate.
In an effort to explain the depth of the problem, the Post produced a graphic displaying exactly where our water comes from.
It highlighted three distinct sources: the upper Derwent reservoirs, Church Wilne reservoir and from the vast sandstone natural underground reservoir that stretches from Nottingham Castle Rock to Doncaster and way out under Lincolnshire, supplying around 75% of our water needs.
The Post said there were millions of gallons down there — enough water to survive a succession of droughts — but the problem was getting it to the surface in sufficient quantities to meet demand.
Back in ’76 there were 22 pumping stations working overtime to serve a million customers with around 55 million gallons of water a day, with the reservoirs making up the shortfall.
But those supplies were running short and reservoirs drying up. And so the restrictions, warnings and appeals went out to the public who had even resorted to staging rain dances.
When all failed, on August 6, 1976, the Drought Act was passed. Families were forced to share bath water, house bricks were placed in toilet cisterns and everyone kept an eye on what their neighbour was up to.
In Leeds a woman was fined for sneaking out at midnight to water her plants.
People were desperate for that cool clear liquid. In East Leake, resident Philip Fagelson converted his swimming pool into a 2,000 gallon storage tank for rainwater collected from his guttering.
Fire brigades were at full stretch. Sherwood Forest, along with other nature spots like the Peak District and Gibraltar Point, was closed to visitors in a bid to cut down on blazes in the tinder-dry undergrowth.
The drought also hit business hard. Severn Trent hoped restrictions on domestic use would keep the wheels of industry turning, but did not rule out standpipes and tankers. Such talk, said managing director Cyril England, “is somewhere in my nightmares”.
As fire calls rose to around 300 a day, Notts firefighters were forced to call for reinforcements, borrowing four Green Goddesses — fire engines from the nation’s emergency war reserve.
These vehicles had been kept in mothballs for the past eight years following the disbanding of the Auxiliary Fire Service, but now they were back in action, along with 300 hoses sent by the Home Office.
At the end of August Nottingham City Council ordered the gates to be closed at Newstead Abbey because of the threat of fire and banned the use of grass sports facilities to protect surfaces weakened by the hot, dry weather.
The Government’s drought guru Denis Howell held Nottingham up as a shining example of what could be achieved to aid wilting Britain when he urged other local authorities to follow their lead in curbing the use of grass sports areas.
“I support the action of Nottingham City Council. These are harsh decisions, but they are necessary,” said the former Football League referee.
Notts County Council adapted the school meals service to keep the hard-pressed firemen fed and put more than 300 highways staff on stand-by to assist the battle against the blazes.
And in Beeston, grateful residents rewarded their local brigade with chocolate cakes.
At a trial at Shire Hall, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing barristers to remove their wigs.
The Post reported on the danger of subsidence caused by the drought affecting homes and even a crisis among the county’s bee population which was not getting enough nectar to feed the queens who had stopped laying eggs.
But it could not last. In September, the rains came and they did not know when to stop.
