NO - I am not claiming to be psychic and I don't read tea leaves but I do like a nice"cuppa"tea. One thing which struck me when I first moved to Thanet was the poor water quality. I moved here from South Suffolk which boasts one of the most modern reservoirs in the country, Alton Water, which was built in the 1970's.
Alton Water was constructed by damming and flooding a river valley. A listed watermill and cottages were removed, brick by brick, from the valley floor and re-constructed in the Museum of East Anglian Life where they are still today. Construction of the reservoir was an upheaval at the time but now it is a country park with wading birds, sailing, fishing, country walks and cycling. This is what I call an integrated plan for the future, which I think is lacking in Thanet.
Coming back to the tea cups, they are both empty cups from my two cups of tea this morning. The one on the left was brewed using bottled water from Waitrose and the one on the right, brewed from tap water which had passed through two filters, installed in my home to improve water quality. As I said in the title, everyday I am reminded that water quality is not the best advert for Thanet.
This topic is particularly relevent at the moment, when the Environment Agency is consulting on run-off water from Manston airport being discharged into Pegwell Bay, it seems the choice we have is either preserving an outstanding SSSI, which is Pegwell Bay, or continuing to contaminate our drinking water. Well at least Waitrose will benefit from increased sales of bottled water.
Hi Ken, link on sidebar and post about your new blog on http://thanetonline.blogspot.com congratulations on starting a Thanet blog.
ReplyDeleteWe have always been a hard water area here, due I think to the prevalence of chalk. To that end, I think we consume more electric kettles in this area of the country than anywhere else, not to mention washing machines and central heating boilers!
ReplyDeleteThe water in Ramsgate the last few days has been so polluted with chlorine it is impossible to make a nice cup of tea,you can smell it when you run the tap or bring a cup up to you lips to drink,they must put a months dose in all at once.
ReplyDeleteStargazer.
Just thought i would say hello Ken from one Thanet blogger to another (Neither of us being natives).
ReplyDeleteI had the pleasure of seeing Alton Water in July last year and thought it was a lovely place as is the surrounding area, we stayed in Tattingstone for the weekend and had a great time.
Caitlin, I am glad to hear somebody else appreciates Alton Water, it was a major project but now enhances the area south of Ipswich. I used to live in Holbrook and be able to walk or cycle to Alton Water. Sledging with the children down the grassy slope of the main dam was great fun.
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