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Stanford Reservoir

Drinking water reservoirs in EnglandReservoirs in LeicestershireReservoirs in NorthamptonshireUse British English from January 2018Warwickshire Avon catchment
Reservoir Cottage and Stanford Reservoir, geograph 4605766 by Mat Fascione
Reservoir Cottage and Stanford Reservoir, geograph 4605766 by Mat Fascione

Stanford Reservoir is a drinking water reservoir on the River Avon, England. It lies on the county boundary between Leicestershire and Northamptonshire near the village of Stanford-on-Avon. The reservoir was built between 1928 and 1930 by Rugby Urban District Council in order to supply the nearby town of Rugby with drinking water. It was created by building an earth and clay dam across the line of the original river, and flooding a small valley between the villages of South Kilworth and Stanford. At its north-eastern extremity, the river enters the reservoir via a settling pond and leaves at the other end via a spillway and a specially constructed channel below the dam. There is a by-pass channel along the northern perimeter, controlled by sluice gates, which allows the water level in the reservoir to be regulated and reduced for repair and maintenance works, and for the flow of water in the river below the dam to be maintained.The reservoir was enlarged between 1958 and 1959, and now covers an area of approximately 58 hectares (140 acres). The average width of the reservoir is around 300 metres (980 ft) and the overall length is approximately 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi). Following a 1 in 100 year flood risk assessment, the spillway was substantially reconstructed in 2017. The reservoir is still used for its original role, but is now a top-up for the much larger Draycote Water reservoir, some 15 miles (24 km) to the south-west which was created in the 1960s. It is now owned by the company Severn Trent Water.The site is considered important for bird species including tufted duck, wigeon, pochard and shoveller and five species of bats. The Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire have a management agreement to look after wildlife aspects. The reservoir is open to public visits, but requires a permit.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Stanford Reservoir (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 52.420833333333 ° E -1.1152777777778 °
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Address

Stanford


, Stanford
England, United Kingdom
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Reservoir Cottage and Stanford Reservoir, geograph 4605766 by Mat Fascione
Reservoir Cottage and Stanford Reservoir, geograph 4605766 by Mat Fascione
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Nearby Places

Welford and Kilworth railway station
Welford and Kilworth railway station

Welford and Kilworth railway station was a railway station serving Welford and the villages of North Kilworth and South Kilworth in Leicestershire, England. It was opened as Welford on the Rugby and Stamford Railway in 1850. Parliamentary approval was gained in 1846 by the directors of the London and Birmingham Railway for a branch from Rugby to the Syston and Peterborough Railway near Stamford. In the same year the company became part of the London and North Western Railway. The section from Rugby to Market Harborough, which included Welford, opened in 1850. Originally single track, it was doubled at the end of 1878. Originally the plan had been to build a station at Husbands Bosworth but due to objections it was situated a couple of miles westward near the village of North Kilworth. Originally, the station was named "Welford" after the larger village of that name two and a half miles further south. Later the name "Lutterworth" was added in an attempt to attract custom from that town even though it was some six miles from the station. The original station was built - as was normal at that time - at ground level. Later, when a platform was added the building's windowsill facing the platform was at ankle level. This original building was of brick, but a variety of additions and extensions in different materials and styles were added over the years. A cottage was built on the opposite side of the line near to the road crossing and the box. Consequently, the signal box had to be high enough to give a view over it. There were two sidings on the up side behind the station building, with a loading dock and goods shed, and, in the opposite direction, beside the up line there were two long sidings. On the other side of the road crossing towards Stamford a further siding catered for a dairy. A milk train would arrive from Rugby at about 3.30 in the morning, returning empty at 5.00 a.m. Welford also proved handy for parking defective wagons. At grouping in 1923 it became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. The station was closed on the sixth of June 1966 and all trackwork lifted shortly afterwards. Although the main station buildings were demolished, the 1878 built down platform shelter is preserved at the Electric Railway Museum, Warwickshire. There is still a Station Road and the trackbed can still be traced crossing the A4304 road.