NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
WEST JESMOND
Forsyth Road
Located on Forsyth Road, West Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne, not far from its junction with the Great North Road...and indeed only a few yards from the Colvill Drinking Fountain.
The trough is built right over the kerb - any closer to the road and it’d be nicked for parking on the double yellow lines.
The trough is built right over the kerb - any closer to the road and it’d be nicked for parking on the double yellow lines.
Was this originally intended as an animal water trough ? Its relatively small.
On the right you can see evidence of a compartment which seems to have once had a lid. This reminds me of the compartments housing the valve and ballcock that you find on modern zinc cattle troughs, although it would have decreased the surface area of the trough even more.
The nearby manhole cover (visible in the first photo) suggests it may have been connected to a water supply at one time ?
On the right you can see evidence of a compartment which seems to have once had a lid. This reminds me of the compartments housing the valve and ballcock that you find on modern zinc cattle troughs, although it would have decreased the surface area of the trough even more.
The nearby manhole cover (visible in the first photo) suggests it may have been connected to a water supply at one time ?
This is interesting - it might be a bit hard to see, but on the left side of the facing end in the above photo there is carved an Ordnance Survey bench mark - a horizontal line with an arrow pointing up from below. These marks were cut by Ordnance Survey levelling staff to provide a network of points at which height has been precisely measured (to the centre of the horizontal line) above sea level. There used to be about half a million bench marks in Great Britain but they are not needed any more, due to satellite technology, and about half have disappeared.
There is bench mark database - http://www.bench-marks.org.uk/ Unfortunately it doesn’t appear to have this one logged (or any in Newcastle for that matter) so no clues there to this trough’s origins.
There is bench mark database - http://www.bench-marks.org.uk/ Unfortunately it doesn’t appear to have this one logged (or any in Newcastle for that matter) so no clues there to this trough’s origins.
WEST JESMOND
Jesmond Dene Road
A curious iron trough or basin situated on the edge of playing fields at the junction of Jesmond Dene Road and Great North Road - directly across Jesmond Dene Road from the William Laing Drinking Fountain detailed elsewhere.
I only noticed it by the chance of the sunlight reflection off of the water. At first glance I thought it was a bit of junk or a plastic container or something, but closer inspection reveals that it is fixed to a brick and concrete base. Whatever it is, its meant to be there - and to stay there.
Remains of hinges suggest that it once had a lid.